Analyzing the Relationship between Participation of Local Communities and Sustainable Development of Ecotourism in Areas on Protection (Case Study: Lar National Park and Tangeh Vashi National Natural Monument)

In the current research, the level of sustainability in two different types of protected areas of Tehran province including Lar National Park and Tangeh Vashi National Natural Monument has been compared. In addition, the evaluation of the participation of local communities and ecotourists has been done in order to measure the impact of participation on the level of sustainability of ecotourism development in these areas. The present study is theoretical-practical in terms of its purpose, and descriptive-analytical and comparative in terms of its nature. The data was collected by documentary and survey method, in which the data was prepared according to previous studies, documents and international references by tourism organizations. Questionnaire, interview and observation tools were also used in the survey method. The analysis of data and information was done in a quantitative way, which used descriptive and inferential statistical tests and the ANP model for statistical analysis. The statistical population and sample size of the study include local communities and ecotourists. The validity of the research is based on structural and formal methods, and its reliability is calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The results of the network hierarchy analysis indicate that the highest points assigned to the effective variables in the sustainable development of ecotourism include biodiversity, ecosystem, monitoring-control and participation; And on the other hand, the lowest scores are related to the variables of access to ecotourism infrastructure and facilities, population density, number of plans and projects, and ecotourism costs. The results also indicated that the level of sustainability in Lar National Park is 4 (from 5), and in Vashi Gorge National Natural Park is 2.3. Also, the highest level of participation among local communities and ecotourists is related to Lar National Park.
 
Extended Abstract
1-Introduction
In recent decades, Areas on Protection (APs)‎ ‎are considered as the most important ecotourism destinations and demand for sustainability development in these pristine and natural ecosystems is the most important challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. The rapid growth of urbanization and the increase in demand for ecotourism activities in natural ecosystems have led to a decrease in sustainability in APs and an increase in environmental threats and species extinction (Lee & Jan, 2019; Forje et al., 2020). Therefore, comparison of sustainability level of APs in ecotourism development is one of the most important solutions in planning process, and it is essential to consideration to it in policies and decisions. Lar National Park and Tangeh Vashi Natural Monument‎ have natural resources, landscapes, plant and animal diversity, and these genetically valuable reserves are the main basis for the growth and ecotourism development in APs‎. Unfortunately, in recent decades, due to various reasons, Lar and Tangeh Vashi have faced many changes, including increasing unsustainability. Hence, unsustainability impacts created in these areas have led to threat of plant and animal species, habitat fragmentation and reduction of biodiversity. Likewise, with ecotourism sustainable development in these areas, we can help continuation of their life and ecosystem. Due to the importance of this issue, in present research, the level of sustainability and participation of local communities and tourists in Lar National Park and Tangeh Vashi Natural Monument have been evaluated and compared.
 
2-Materials and Methods
The present study is theoretical-practical in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical and comparative in terms of nature. Data and information were collected by documentary method (according to previous studies, documents and international references from tourism organizations) and survey method (questionnaire, interview and observation). The analysis of data and information is quantitative and using descriptive-inferential statistical tests and ANP model. The statistical population and sample size include local communities and tourists. The validity of the research is based on structural and formal methods, and reliability is calculated using Cronbach's alpha.
 
3- Results and Discussion
The current study evaluated ‎sustainable ecotourism level in the studied areas, from local ‎communities ‎viewpoints. As the results revealed, among studied areas, ‎the ‎‎highest ‎ecotourism ‎sustainability‎ level is ‎related to‎ Lar, which one of the most important reasons affecting the issue ‎is legal ‎restrictions and prohibitions in national parks according to the IUCN instructions ‎‎(Majnonian, 2002).‎ Accordingly, the main goal of National parks ‎management is to minimize the impacts of human activities, such as development of ecotourism ‎‎activities (IUCN, 2008). Moreover, time to visit this area is limited to 6 June to end of ‎September ‎‎(during the year), ‎and also the entry of ecotourism requires license from the ‎Department of the ‎Environment ‎as the ‎custodian of these areas. Other reasons increasing sustainability‎ level in this ‎area, ‎include ‎high distance from human habitats, low level ‎of infrastructure and tourism ‎services, ‎high number of guard ‎stations and environmental ‎‎guardians, ‎high level of monitoring and control ‎on ecotourism ‎activities, ‎and access restrictions and development of ecotourism ‎due to high level ‎of slope and altitude.‎ ‎Likewise‎, the lowest ecotourism sustainability‎ level is allocated‎ Tangeh ‎Vash‎i, due to lack of ‎monitoring over the entry of visitors ‎‎to this area, especially on weekends and holidays. ‎Furthermore, lack of necessary tourism ‎‎infrastructures has led to decrease of sustainability, ‎increased habitat destruction, and extinction ‎‎of valuable species in this area. ‎Based on ‎the ‎‎‏conservation instructions in PAs of Iran, national ‎natural ‎‎monuments ‎have high ‎sensitivity and ‎low flexibility for the development of human ‎activities (Majnonian, 2002); so, ‎exploitation of these areas is prohibited, while in Tangeh ‎Vash‎i, ‎uncontrolled development of ‎human activities has been observed. Hence, the results demonstrate that, factors affecting ‎in ‎‎unsustainability ecotourism in this area, include the large number of tourists‎ and ‎visitors ‎due to ‎lack of sufficient monitoring, ‎and also existence of many historical, natural, ‎and ‎cultural ‎attractions. These findings have ‎been confirmed by other studies (Sobhani et al.,‎ 2021; Sayadi ‎& Moghadasi, 2011; Department ‎of the Environment of Iran, 2014). ‎The results of the impact of stakeholders' participation on ecotourism sustainability level, indicate that the highest level of participation among local communities and tourists, respectively, is related to Lar (with a mean of 3.9 and 3.5), and the lowest level of participation ( with a mean of 2.8 and 1.8) is allocated to Tangeh ‎Vash‎i. Among the reasons for this issue, we can mention the fact that most of local communities are indigenous, the high level of social capital among local communities, and the economic benefits of tourism attractions for local communities.
According to ‎‏conservation instructions in PAs of Iran, National parks, and Natural monuments ‎‎have high ecological ‎sensitivity and low flexibility for the development of human activities ‎‎(Majnonian‏ ‏‏‎2015). Accordingly, identifying and ‎the evaluating factors affecting in increase of ‎‎‎‎‎‎unsustainability in PAs (according to managerial goals in these areas), can help proper planning ‎and ‎development of sustainability ecotourism in these areas ‎‎(Haghverdi et al., 2018).‎
 
4- Conclusion
According to the IUCN ‎classification, various types of PAs have specific management ‎objectives, so achieving ‎multilateral goals ‎‎(educational, research, conservation, and recreational), ‎as well as protecting ‎them from human ‎activities requires development of sustainability, and ‎exploitation according to ‎the capabilities of ‎these areas. Accordingly, according to the different protection and management goals in APs, it is necessary that ecotourism activities development within the framework of sustainability and existing legal mechanisms in these areas, this means that demands of tourists should be met in relation to protect these valuable biological reserves.