somayeh Shirzadi Laskookalayeh; Hamid Amirnejad; Sare Hosseini
Abstract
Introduction: In recent years, one of the most important challenges in the management of Hyrcanian forests is the continuation of the process of forests logging or its logging ban (forest respiration). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats ...
Read More
Introduction: In recent years, one of the most important challenges in the management of Hyrcanian forests is the continuation of the process of forests logging or its logging ban (forest respiration). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of logging plans and forest logging ban from an economic and social perspective and to provide appropriate management strategies in this field and prioritize them as a tool to reduce these challenges.Material and methods: The study was conducted in Mazandaran Province (Sari City) using field observations and questionnaire completion. The statistical sample of the study consisted of experts and faculty members specialized in the forestry field and rural communities on the margins of forests. In this study, entropy and SWOT techniques were used for data analysis.Results and discussion: The results of the study identified 4 strengths, 6 weaknesses, 8 opportunities and 2 threats for forest logging and 2 strengths, 9 weaknesses, 4 opportunities and 8 threats for forest logging ban. According to the SWOT matrix results, the most important strengths and opportunities for forest logging included reducing wood smuggling and meeting the country's wood needs, and the most important weakness and threats included logging costs and nature lovers' dissatisfaction, respectively. Also, the most important strengths and opportunities of the forest logging ban include increasing the economic value of forest environmental services and the tendency towards wood cultivation, and its most important weaknesses and threats were the reduction of employment and the increase of wood smuggling, respectively.Conclusion: According to the results of data related forest logging and forest logging ban (forest respiration) of the forests of the study area and based on analysis of QSPM matrix results, most appropriate management strategy for forest logging and forest logging ban was an offensive strategy and a defensive strategy, respectively.
Hamid Amirnejad; Ahmadreza Shahpouri; SeyedMojtaba Mojaverian
Volume 14, Issue 4 , January 2017, , Pages 121-134
Abstract
Introduction: Caspian Sea sturgeons are a valuable economic resource, a rare species and unfortunately endangered.Materials and methods: In response to these factors, the present study assesses the preservation value of Caspian Sea sturgeon by applying two-stage Heckman models in order to analysis and ...
Read More
Introduction: Caspian Sea sturgeons are a valuable economic resource, a rare species and unfortunately endangered.Materials and methods: In response to these factors, the present study assesses the preservation value of Caspian Sea sturgeon by applying two-stage Heckman models in order to analysis and compare individual willingness to pay. The sample size was calculated by a simple stochastic sampling method and then all the analyses were performed using information from 358 One-and-One-half-Bound Dichotomous questionnaires.Results and discussion: The results show that, although the two-step Hackman method can distinguish the factors affecting a willingness to pay and factors affecting the accepted level of cost. The average value of willingness to pay as based on Heckman‘s two-step approach is 15,311 Rials per month per household.Conclusion:The preservation of annual value use as based on Heckman's two-step approach is 336.8 Million Rials.
Ardavan Zarandian; Ahmad Reza Yavari; Hamid Reza Jafari; Hamid Amirnejad
Volume 13, Issue 4 , January 2016, , Pages 97-112
Abstract
Quantifying and anticipation of the impacts of changes in waterrelated services caused by human activities is a complicated aspect of environmental assessment which can be facilitated by the application of dynamic and spatial models of ecosystem services. This paper aims to examine the application of ...
Read More
Quantifying and anticipation of the impacts of changes in waterrelated services caused by human activities is a complicated aspect of environmental assessment which can be facilitated by the application of dynamic and spatial models of ecosystem services. This paper aims to examine the application of the WW PSS model in the Sarvelat and Javaherdasht forested landscape in order to calculate the water balance and water- related services of the ecosystem in a baseline condition and, then, to measure the impacts of changes in natural forest cover on the services' quantity and quality based on a scenario developed. The result of running the model indicates that the surfaces covered with dense forest have decreased by 29% in recent 13 years, but the semi-dense and poor forest covers have increased by 14% and 15%, respectively. Then, the impacts of such structural changes on water services were measured and this showed an overall decrease in water balance of 1.5 mm/yr and an increase in runoff of 12,197,528 m3/yr which is caused by a reduction in evapotranspiration due to cutting forest trees. In the final stage, the environmental consequences of changes in ecosystem services were quantified by the model which depicts an increase in soil erosion of 0.57 mm/yr on average and exacerbation of the potential of water contaminate distribution across the study landscape.
