Assessment of the effectiveness of protected areas management in Iran: case study in Khojir National Park.

The requirement to assess the management effectiveness (ME) in protected areas (PAs) is increasing around the world to help improve management and accountability. An evaluation of ME for Khojir National Park (KNP), one of the Iran's oldest PAs, was conducted using a multi-method approach that consisted of structured interviews, open interviews, and site visits. This was the first ME evaluation in Iran. The structured interview was based on the management effectiveness tracking tool methodology. KNP received an average score of 43 %, which is lower than the global average, illustrating that its general management was in the low-intermediate level. The indices of legal status, resource inventory, planning for land and water use, regulations, and objectives received the highest average scores, whereas education and awareness, community co-management, regular work plan, boundary demarcation, visitor facilities, budget sources, staff training, protection systems, and management plan received the lowest ones. The management system of KNP was generally established, but many problems of the management still need to be resolved. To improve ME, some countermeasures should be taken, such as increasing funding, strengthening capacity building, planning, and adaptive management, and implementing community participation.

Challenges to the future development of Iran's protected areas system.

Since the 1950s, there has been a continuous increase in the number and coverage of protected areas (PAs) in Iran, and in total 253 PAs have been declared that cover 10.12 % of the country's area. This paper reviews literature addressing Iran's PAs, examines what is known about them, highlights the challenges and lessons learned, and identifies areas where more research is needed. The PA system in Iran is criticized because of (1) shortages of manpower, equipment, and financial resources; (2) de jure PAs that are often implemented as de facto reserves; (3) lack of national biodiversity indicators and objective monitoring processes; and (4) limited public participation and conflict between people over PAs. To improve, Iran's PAs system needs to be realistically supported by policies and planning instruments. In addition, the implementation of active management to restore habitat, increase education and awareness, shift practices towards the guidelines of international organizations, build capacity, and improve management and co-management by local communities needs to occur.

Degradation model: a quantitative EIA instrument, acting as a decision support system (DSS) for environmental management.

Environmental assessment of alternative development plans, programs, and policies may bring conflict among decision-makers, particularly when some quantitative measures for decision-making are needed and where cumulative impacts are neglected. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental economics theories, despite their usefulness, are not capable of addressing those issues and problems alone. In recent years, the decision support system (DSS) has provided some solutions, but mathematical analysis of the system to show the internal structure of the problem is not always possible. To addres the above shortcomings and ongoing problems of decision-making in Iran, a degradation model (DM) was introduced as an instrument of EIA, to act as a DSS for managers. The model is a compromise between knowledge-based decision support systems, detailed models, digested information models, and the basic theorem of environmental economics. In the present study (1996-2000), the model was applied in three provinces of Iran, representing three of four biogeographical regions of Iran. The study area was divided into a set of grids (100 km(2)). The degradation coefficient ( H) was computed for all grids (1333), representing the degree of degradation in the grid. It is obvious that the higher the coefficient the more area is degraded and less prone to further development, and vice versa. In order to provide decision-makers with a set of quantitative measures to observe impacted areas (critical and noncritical) for resource allocation and further development, the degradation coefficients of all grids were classified into categories and criteria, using a fuzzy set theoretic approach. Accordingly, only 24% of study areas are prone to further development. The degradation model as a knowledge-based decision support system has its strengths and weaknesses, but it has solved managers' ongoing problems in Iran and it could be used elsewhere.