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Geographical Information System (GIS)-based multi-criteria decision-making is greatly used in situations of complex, spatial decision-making involving simultaneous consideration of a variety of criteria. In the current survey, the GIS is used to identify and study the vulnerable zones and the ecotourism status in Ilam Province. In order to evaluate the geographical information of the province, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model was used as one of the most applicable multi-criteria decision-making methods to make a base for selecting of criteria. Based upon the selected criteria, the maps elevation, slope, land cover, springs, roads, recreational and residential areas were provided. After making the map layers GIS ready, the selected criteria were weighted using Expert Choice Software. In the final step, the weighted criteria maps were overplayed using GIS in which the suitable ecotourism areas were specified. The research procedure indicates that the GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making could be quite a capable approach to handle a variety of criteria affecting site attraction for ecotourism development. In general, this empirical research develops a new methodology that can greatly enhance ecotourism planning with respect to determining site-attraction characteristics.

As one of the most wealth-generating industries in the world, tourism has been the center of attention by many governments worldwide. Depending on the purpose of tourism, it has been classified into different types, one of which is ecotourism. Given that ecotourism currently accounts for a small part of the whole, however, it has a rapid growth rate. The present study aims at zoning suitable areas in Ilam, a province in western Iran, for ecotourism development purposes. Accordingly, the digital maps of elevation, slope, land cover/land use, mineral springs, and water resources were prepared, at first. Afterwards, the suitable and unsuitable areas were segregated by Boolean functions. Overlaying the map layers by GIS software, the suitable areas were identified. The obtained results revealed that the top attractions are mainly distributed from the northern and central province to the southeastern parts where climatic condition is favorable, and rich in natural land cover and water resources. Moreover, the southern and western parts were evaluated poor in term of eco-tourist attractions.

In recent years, the intensification of drought and unsustainable management and use of water resources have caused a significant decline in the water level of the Urmia Lake in the northwest of Iran. This condition has affected the lake, approaching an irreversible point such that many projects have been implemented and are being implemented to save the natural condition of the Urmia Lake, among which the inter-basin water transfer (IBWT) project from the Zab River to the lake could be considered an important project. The main aim of this research is the evaluation of the IBWT project effects on the Gadar destination basin. Simulations of the geometrical properties of the river, including the bed and flow, have been performed, and the land cover and flood map were overlapped in order to specify the areas prone to flood after implementing the IBWT project. The results showed that with the implementation of this project, the discharge of the Gadar River was approximately tripled and the water level of the river rose 1 m above the average. In April, May, and June, about 952.92, 1458.36, and 731.43 ha of land adjacent to the river (floodplain) will be inundated by flood, respectively. Results also indicated that UNESCO’s criteria No. 3 (“a comprehensive environmental impact assessment must indicate that the project will not substantially degrade the environmental quality within the area of origin or the area of delivery”) and No. 5 (“the net benefits from the transfer must be shared equitably between the area of origin and the area of water delivery”) have been violated by implementing this project in the study area. The findings could help the local government and other decision-makers to better understand the effects of the IBWT projects on the physical and hydrodynamic processes of the Gadar River as a destination basin.

The SE coast of Iran is of great economic and environmental importance. Global climate change affects this coastline through sea level rise (SLR), compounded by a decrease in sediment budgets in coastal areas. This study developed a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) for the SE coast of Iran using satellite, instrumental and field data. Eight risk variables were defined: coastal slope, regional coastal elevation, mean tidal range, mean significant wave height, rate of relative sea-level change, rate of shoreline change, environmental sensitivity and socio-economic sensitivity. The coast was divided into 27 segments based on geomorphic, environmental and socioeconomic traits. Coastal segments were categorized based on their vulnerability to each risk factor using a CVI. The resulting maps highlighted the vulnerability of each coastal segment to SLR. Approximately 50% of the coast is comprised of mostly rocky shores, which are less vulnerable to SLR. Approximately 33% of the coastal length, including sandy beaches, tidal flats and mangrove forests, were determined to be highly vulnerable to SLR. Approximately 12% of the coastline was determined to be moderately vulnerable. Population centers and infrastructure were ranked as highly-to-moderately vulnerable to SLR. This study highlighted the high vulnerability of low-lying areas, such as lagoons and mangroves, in the western part of the Iranian coast of Makran. Proper coastal management and mitigation plans are essential in the future to protect coastal societies and environments.

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Despite the large amount of information, including books, articles and pristine images of geotourism, there exists no comprehensive study on the collection and classification of them in Iran yet. In this research, for the modelling of geosite watersheds, 1000 articles were surveyed through library research and the models with the highest frequency of use were identified and analysed among a statistical sample of 451 local papers using the Meta-Analysis method, and then the most efficient ones were identified using Delphi and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methods. The results of this study showed that while the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), Pralong, Reynard, AHP and Pereira models are in the first to fifth-ranked models with the highest frequency, however, Pralong, SWOT, Reynard, Perira and Comanescu models were considered as the most efficient ones in geosite modelling in Iran.