Survey on touristic demands and feedbacks in the Mirza Kouchak Khan forest park of Amol

Document Type : Scientific article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student Forestry, Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources , Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University

2 Associate Prof., Department of Forestry, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University

Abstract

The development of forest parks not only entails the governmental and public support in multiple (political, economic, social and cultural) aspects, but it also requires an in-depth expert knowledge on forest management. The purpose of this study was to control the conducted management plans and review the recreational needs of tourists across Mirza Kouchak Khan forest park in Amol. A total number of 100 questionnaires were distributed among park visitors using the Clawson method. The analysis was performed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results showed that the Cronbach's alpha = 0.251, turning out that the questionnaires were not valid. By excluding the outliers (i.e. highest numbers) the value of Cronbach's alpha was improved up to 0.55. The relationship amongst the parameters was surveyed by a chi-square test. Except two cases, namely the relationships between the type of park equipment and the right to use parking space as well as between the knowledge and understanding the forest with the other variables, no other significant differences were found. In fact, the public willingness to violate the regulations significantly decreases if the park would be associated with a proper design and planning, which in turns results in reduced damage to a given park. Therefore, this study revealed that the public culture of the park visitors is currently lacking an intuitive understanding and awareness about the biological and ecological values of the studies forest park.

Keywords

References

- Abedinzadeh, N., 2004. Comparing of economical valuation for Saravan forest park and Rasht’s park-e shahr and presentation the management measures. M.Sc. thesis, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Sciences and Research Branch, Tehran, 183p (In Persian).
- Ahmadi Sani, N., Babaei Kafaki, S. and Mataji, A., 2011. Exploring the possibility of ecotourism in terms of ecological activities in the northern Zagros forests using multi-criteria decision-making, GIS and remote sensing. Town and Country Planning, 3(4): 45-64 (In Persian).
- Amirnezhad, H. and Khalilian, S., 2005. The estimated value of tourism and factors affecting willingness to pay Golestan national park visitors. The Fifth Biennial Conference on Agricultural Economics. Zahedan, 9-7 Mar. 2005: 15-20 (In Persian).
- Amirnezhad, H., Khalilian, S. and Osareh, M.H., 2006. Protective and recreational value of forest park. Pajohesh and sazandegi, 72(2): 15-24 (In Persian).
-  Anonymous, 2007. Report of The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Volume 7, No. 1.
- Asadi, A., 2010. Assess and prioritize the recreational forest park Lavizan using GIS. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari,130p (In Persian).
- Balram, S. and Dragicevic, C.S., 2005. Attitudes toward urban green spaces: integrating questionnaire survey and collaborative GIS techniques. Landscape and Urban Planning, 71: 147-162.
- Barzehkar, Gh., 2002. Complete and Revision Plan of Haraz Park of Amol. Published by Forest, Range and Watershed Management Organization, Tehran, 154p (In Persian).
- Barzehkar, Gh., 2005. Principles of Positioning and Planning for Forest Parks. Published by Agricultural and Natural Resources Engineering Organization, Tehran, 232p (In Persian).
- Chiesura, A., 2004. The role of urban park for the sustainable city. Landscape and Urban Planning, 68(1): 129-138.
- Cronbach, L.J., 1951. Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrica, 16(3): 297-334.
- Edzinovich, V., 1992. Effect of anthropogenic factors on the redial increment of the forest park pine stands of Minsk. Vestsi Akademii Navuk BSSR Seryya Biyalagichnykh Navuk, (5/6): 61-62.
- Flores, A., Pickett, S., Zipperer, T. and Pirani, R., 1998. Adopting a modern ecological view of the metropolitan landscape: the case of a greenspace system for the New York city region. Landscape and Urban Planning, 39: 295-308.
- Ghaemi, N., 1996. Destructive and threatening Golestan National Park. Journal of Environment, 9(2): 30-37
- Germann-Chiari, C. and Seeland, K., 2004 .Are urban green spaces optimally distributed to act as places for social integration? Results of a geographical information system (GIS) approach for urban forestry research. Forest Policy and Economics, 6: 3-13.
- Halpenny, E., 2007. Examining the relationship of place attachment with pro-environmental intentions: 63-66. In: Burns, R. and Robinson, K. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 2006 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. USA, 9-11 Apr. 2006: 613p.
- Halpenny, E.A., 2010. The legacy of park visitation: Place attachment and pro-environmental behavior-observations from a study of visitors to Point Pelee National Park: 146-155. In: Bondrup-Nielsen, S., Beazley, K., Bissix, G., Colville, D., Flemming, S., Herman, T., McPherson, M., Mockford, S. and O’Grady, S., (Eds.). Ecosystem Based Management: Beyond Boundaries, Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference of Science and the Management of Protected Areas. Wolfville, Nova Scotia, NS, 21-26 May., 2007.
- Khorshiddoust, A.M., 2005. Contingent valuation in estimating the willingness to pay for environmental conservation in Tabriz, Iran. Environmental Studies, 30: 12-21 (In Persian).
- Lee, K. and Allen, N.J., 2002. Organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviance: the role of affect and cognation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87: 131-142.
- Malekanrad, A., 1999. Effects of tourism pressure on forest parameters of forest park Sisangan. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Noor, 62p (In Persian).
- Mataji, A., Akhvan, R. and Aghakhni, S., 2006. Evaluate the success of the forestry hardwood species in Arak. Iranian Journal of Forest and Poplar Research, 14(4): 338-359 (In Persian).
- Mirzaei, M., 2000. Check the vegetation and ecological value of semi-desert areas out west of the province. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Plant Science, Univesity of Tarbiat Modares (In Persian).
- Morancho, A.B., 2003. A hedonic valuation of urban green areas. Landscape and Urban Planning, 66: 35-41.
- Nehrli, D., 1995. Economic and social assessment  of  Elgoli  park of Tabriz. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, 95p (In Persian).
- Payande, T., Omidi, M. and Masoudifar, F., 2009. Cronbach's Alpha Coefficient, Concepts and Methods of Its New Function. http://paperboat.roomfa.com/Archive/1393/9 (In Persian).
- Sedough, M.B., 2004. Introduction to Diagnose Air Pollution. Markazi Environment Office, Arak, 152p (In Persian).
- Wang, W., Chen, J., Fan, L. and Lu, J., 2012. Tourist experience and wetland parks: a case of Zhejiang, China. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(4): 1763-1778.
- Yakhkeshi, A., 1974. Introduction to National Parks and Forests of Iran. Tehran University Press, Tehran,135p (In Persian).
- Zeinali, M., 2011. Factors influencing entrepreneurship education. M.Sc. thesis, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, 130p (In Persian).

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics