Strategic Planning and Providing Sustainable Management Strategies in the Oshtorankuh Protected Area

Despite its biological richness and abundant natural attractions, the Oshtorankuh protected area faces numerous threats. Therefore, the present study addresses strategic planning and the identification of superior strategies in this area, with the aim of achieving integrated management and proper planning for preserving biological richness using the ANP-SWOT model. According to the results, among internal and external factors, strengths have the highest score, totaling 0.817. These factors have assigned themselves more points (0.364) than external factors, which scored -0.121. Moreover, the distribution of strategies across each strategic area includes 37% for the performance enhancement strategy (ST), 27% for the comprehensive development strategy (SO), 20% for the status quo strategy (WT), and finally 15% for the participatory development and empowerment strategy (WO). The strategic position of the Oshtorankuh protected area, considering the percentage allocated to each strategy, corresponds to the "ST" strategy. In this regard, planners and managers should control threats and maintain strengths in this area. Superior management strategies in this area include increasing the number of environmentalists, monitoring human activities, developing correct planning and integrated management, monitoring illegal hunting and fishing, and protecting biodiversity and ecological resources. The results of this study can help planners and decision-makers achieve integrated management and formulate development models in the Oshtorankuh protected area based on management and zoning plans, as well as continuous monitoring of human activities in sensitive zones.
 
Extended Abstract
1-Introduction
In recent decades, protected areas and the need to protect them have attracted the attention of many international and global communities. The excessive development of human economic activities on the one hand, and the direct reliance and livelihood dependence of a large part of the world's growing population on nature on the other, have increasingly confronted natural ecosystems with numerous challenges. In this regard, "strategic planning and management" is one of the most important pillars of management systems in integrated land planning and achieving the principles of sustainable development. Strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating multiple decisions and tasks in order to protect the environment. Strategic planning in protected areas is referred to as a process through which long-term goals and policies for the preservation and management of these areas are identified and implemented, and the ultimate goal is to protect their biodiversity, ecosystems, and natural landscapes. Despite its biological richness and abundant natural attractions, the Oshtorankuh protected area faces numerous threats. Therefore, planning for the development of human activities should be done in a way that causes the least damage to the habitat and its biological species.
 
2-Materials and Methods
In the present study, strategic planning and identification of superior strategies in the Oshtorankuh protected area were addressed, with the aim of achieving integrated management and proper planning for preserving the biodiversity of this area using the ANP-SWOT model. The SWOT matrix is currently used effectively in the strategic planning process, and its analysis is carried out before formulating strategies. This analysis includes the internal and external effects of the area and planning the effects of future development. The analysis of internal effects focuses on strengths and weaknesses, and the analysis of external factors focuses on opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are caused by internal and inherent factors in the environment, while opportunities and threats are influenced by external factors rather than internal factors, and the regional, national, or international macro-space plays a role in their formation. Next, each strategy was prioritized based on the opinions of experts and specialists and the use of the ANP weighting model. The ANP model is one of the multi-criteria decision-making processes that belongs to the group of compensatory models. The main advantage of this model is the measurement of different indicators based on their relationships, and given the complexity of different issues, it can yield better results.
 
3- Results and Discussion
According to the results, among the internal and external factors, strengths have the highest score, totaling 0.817. Also, internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) with a total score of 0.364 have a higher score than external factors (opportunities and threats) with a total score of -0.121. Moreover, the distribution of strategies across each strategic area includes 37% for the performance improvement strategy (ST), 27% for the comprehensive development strategy (SO), 20% for the status quo strategy (WT), and finally 15% for the participatory development and empowerment strategy (WO). Therefore, the strategic position of the Oshtorankuh protected area corresponds to the "ST" strategy, considering the percentage allocated to each strategy. In this regard, planners and managers should control threats and maintain strengths in this region. As the results show, among the strategies in the SO domain, increasing the number of environmentalists and monitoring human activities has the highest weight and priority, with a value of 0.187, and developing tourism facilities in the region has the lowest weight and priority, with a value of 0.125. Among the strategies in the WO domain, developing sound planning and integrated management, with a weight of 0.184, and empowering the region to provide tourism and nature tourism services, with a weight of 0.141, have the highest and lowest priorities, respectively. According to the results, in the ST domain, monitoring illegal hunting and fishing, with a weight of 0.192, and managing the development of tourism activities in the region, with a weight of 0.148, have the highest and lowest priorities. Finally, in the WT domain, the highest priority is related to the protection of biodiversity and ecological resources, with a weight of 0.186, and the lowest priority is related to the preservation of existing resources and monitoring productivity, with a weight of 0.154.
 
4- Conclusion
According to the results obtained, the best management strategies in this area include increasing the number of rangers and monitoring human activities, developing sound and integrated management planning, monitoring illegal hunting and fishing, and protecting biodiversity and ecological resources. Accordingly, the strategies presented in this study can help planners and decision-makers achieve integrated management and develop development patterns in the Oshtorankuh protected area based on management and zoning plans, as well as continuous monitoring and control of human activities in sensitive zones.