The identification of areas appropriate for the sustainable growth and development of touristic activities is among the main topics of tourism planning. With its positioning between a mountainous area and a plain, Dorud city enjoys topographic diversity and numerous natural attractions that need proper management and appropriate planning in order to attain the objectives of the sustainable development of tourism. Aiming at the examination of the potential of this area for recreational-sport trekking ecotourism, the study at hand set out to assess the ecologic power of this area using multi-criteria evaluation method. This study was applied-developmental in terms of purpose, and descriptive-analytical in terms of research framework. Since the identification and evaluation of tourism potentials is a multi-criteria decision-making question, five main criteria groups – including physical, ecologic, infrastructural-bodily, safety, and economic-social criteria groups – and 25 secondary criteria for the recreational-sport trekking tourism were developed. The weighted linear combination was used to integrate the criteria. Then, the final map for ecotourism activity in the region was drawn in three spaces with low, mid, and high capability. The results of the final desirability map showed that 6.9 percent of the area has high potential for recreational-sport trekking. Moreover, the results of TOPSIS revealed that Qarun and Oshtorankuh mountains are the first and second top ranking mountains for recreational-sport trekking, respectively. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate the appropriate areas for recreational-sport trekking, which can function as a guide for tourists, managers, and planners to make decisions and administer developmental policies in the light of environmental and socioeconomic approaches and considerations.

One of the main challenges in the energy transmission arena (especially the natural gas transmission) in Iran is the optimal demarcation of operational boundaries in order to cover the whole land. In other words, over time and due to the changes in the consumption level and the facilities installed in the related areas, the boundaries defined as the operational areas have lost their optimal response potential, and there have appeared challenges such as more difficult access, increased volume and importance of transmission, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to define and demarcate new boundaries based on these changes. As a result, this article addressed the optimal model for the demarcation of natural gas transmission operational areas using spatial allocation method. Spatial allocation method is an instrument for maximum optimization and high access in various algorithms. The spatial allocation methods that are usually used for positioning stations and work facilities are a great instrument for planning the public services. In this study, in line with using comparative studies and external experiences, instruments such as interview (for the determination of indices), statistical tests in GIS, weighing methods, etc., were used. According to the obtained results, the number of yards and areas should be fixed, but the boundaries of the operational natural gas transmission areas and yards should be mobilized maximally to match the defined scenario so that maximum optimization is achieved.

In recent decades, dust storms have intensified due to climate changes, including drought and human interventions. In addition to removing soil particles, dust brings storms bring about severe economic, social, and health problems. Due to its strategic conditions – including its status as an industrial and agricultural hub and the province hosting more than 29 million Iranian and international pilgrims, especially during the seasons and months with specific holidays – should be prioritized in the examination of dust storm frequency. The purpose of this study was to examine and track the frequency of dust storms and analyze the effect of climactic changes on them through the investigation of drought trend as well as the trend of changes in the land surface coverage percentage during the statistical analysis period. The results of counting the dust codes showed that dust storms with local origin had the highest frequency. According to the monthly analysis, Sarakhs and Mashhad stations had the most dust phenomena, with the most dusty days in the study area during summer and spring seasons, especially June and July months. The results of regression analysis of drought index and the monthly local dusty days indicated the existence of a significant, positive relationship between dust increase and drought intensity in Mashhad and Sarakhs stations during the statistical period of 27 years at 99 percent confidence interval. Finally, in the light of the results obtained from the examination of the land surface changes, it is recommended that land use plans be used along with short-term methods of soil stabilization in order to reduce the economic damages and preserve people’s health against dust during busy months and seasons so as to achieve the goals of long-term methods.

Today, ecotourism is deemed a key industry and is granted a special position in the economic development of different countries. This industry has always faced risks in making decisions about selecting places with high ecotourism potential. Therefore, the purpose of this study was the assessment of ecotourism development capability in rural areas, with an emphasis on the environmental risk-taking in decision-making. In this study, 12 spatial criteria were used. Ordered weighted average (OWL), analytic network process (ANP), TOPSIS, and sensitivity analysis were used to assess the concept of decision-making risk, calculate the weight and importance of the criteria, rate the appropriate villages, and assess the modeling precision, respectively. The results showed that among the used criteria, the distance from the built lands and the distance from faults have the highest and lowest weight, respectively. With the increase and decrease in the risk-taking degree, the high potential class space increases and decreases, respectively, such that in the risk-taking degree of 0 or less, less than one percent and in the risk-taking degree of 1, thirty-five percent of all lands of the area fall in the “very high potential” class. The examination of the appropriate villages in the 0.5 risk-taking degree for ecotourism development showed that among all Mazandaran province villages, only 55 villages are in the “very high potential” class. Among these, Aali Kola with the relative distance of 0.8505 is the most capable village for ecotourism development. Finally, the results of sensitivity analysis revealed the adequate stability of the model results in various scenarios, i.e., the high reliability of the model results.