Journal of Natural Environment

Proposal for a Decision Algorithm for Selecting Coastal-Marine Protected Areas in South of Iran,, Case Study: Hormozgan Province

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Marine Science/ Faculty of Natural resources and environment/ Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch/Tehran/ Iran.

2 Department of Marine Science, Faculty of Natural resources and environment, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Environment,, Technical and Engineering Faculty, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch

4 Department of Marine Science/ Faculty of Natural resources and environment/ Science and Research Branch/ Islamic Azad University/ Tehran/ Iran

Abstract

Given the importance of coastal-marine areas and their high sensitivity, integrated coastal zone management plans for the sustainable management and use of these resources, have been globally defined and restricted. The criteria for selecting these areas in Iran need to be revised to develop a specific guideline, based on the current situation. In the present study, the results of the hitherto researches, determining priorities of being representative by AHP method and sensitivity by ANP method, were combined and the final priorities of being representative were obtained. Then, according to the established ecoregions in hitherto researches, habitat priorities were determined based on ecoregions. Then the protection status of the final codes was gained in the whole region and in each ecoregion. The results showed that the entire study area has been protected completely. The Hormuz Strait ecoregion with the most diverse habitat, has the greatest tension and it is in the best protection status. Sensitivity analysis of the models showed no sensitivity to any of the criteria. Since, some parts of the Northern Persian Gulf and Makran ecoregions are not located in Hormozgan province, a final judgement was impossible to be made for them. Finally, potential land uses were defined at the provincial level and a decision-making algorithm was developed for coastal-marine areas of southern Iran.

Keywords

Abdulla, A.,  Gomei, M., Maison, E. and Piante, C., 2008. Status of Marine Protected Areas in the Mediterranean Sea. IUCN, Malaga and WWF, France. 152 pp.
AG-CBD, 2008. Guidelines for the Establishment of Marine Protected Areas in the Black Sea.
Akbari Mejdar, H., Bahremand, A. R., Najafinejad, A. and Sheikh, V. B., 2013. Daily flow simulation of Chehelchai river-Golestan province using SWAT model. JWSC, 20 (3): 253-259.
ANZECC TFMPA (Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council Task Force on Marine Protected Areas) 1998. Guidelines for Establishing the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas. Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council, Task Force on Marine Protected Areas. Environment Australia, Canberra.
Australian Maritime Safety Authority, 2014. Particularty Sensitive Sea Areas. Fact Sheet. Australian Government. Canberra ACT Australia.
Brattland, C., 2012. Sensitive Sea Areas in Arctic Norway; Tentative Identification Based on IMO Cultureal, Social and Economic Criteria. Norsk Instututt for Kulturminneforskning (NIKU). Storgata 2. Postboks 736 Sentrum. 0105. Oslo.
Breen, S. A., 2007. Systematic Conservation Assessment for Marine Protected Areas in New South Wales. Australia, Ph.D Thesis, James Cook University, 97 p.
CBD. 2009. Azores Scientific Criteria and Guidance for identifying ecologically or biologically significant marine areas and designing representative networks of marine protected areas in open ocean waters and deep sea habitats. United Nations Environment Program, IUCN, CBD.
Danehkar, A., and Majnoonian, H., 2004. Criterion recommendation for assessment of coastal-marine areas for determination of coastal and marine protected areas in iran.  Journal of Environmental Studies, 35: 9-32., 35: 9-32. (In Persian)
Gjerde, K. M., 2001. Protecting Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas from Shipping: A Review of IMO’s New PSSA Guidelines, Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Coastal Zone Conference, Clevelan, OH.
Hassanzadeh, M. and Danehkar, A., 2015. How to use the Network Analysis Method (ANP) for Ranking Port Environmental Ecological Criteria (Case Study: Persian Gulf, Bushehr). The fourth conference of marine industry, Tehran. (In Persian)
ICZM, 2009. Integrated Coastal Zone Management of Iran, Ports and Maritime Organization.
IMO, 2006. Revised Guidelines for the Identification and Designation of Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas. Assembly 24th Session. Agenda Item 11.
IUCN/WCPA, 1999. Guidelines for Marine Protected Areas. Edited & Coordinated by Graeme Kelleher.
Jessen, S., K. Chan, I. Côté, P. Dearden, E. De Santo, M.J. Fortin, F. Guichard, W. Haider,
G. Jamieson, D.L. Kramer, A. McCrea-Strub, M. Mulrennan, W.A. Montevecchi, J. Rof,
A. Salomon, J. Gardner, L. Honka, R. Menafra and A. Woodley. 2011. Science-based Guidelines for MPAs and MPA Networks in Canada. Vancouver: Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. 58 pp.
Kumar, A. A. and P. D Kunte. 2012. Coastal Vulnerability Assessment for Chennai, East Coast of India Using Geospatial Techniques. Nat Hazards. 64: 853-872.
Mabile, S. and C. Piante. 2005. Global directory of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean. Foundation WWF-France, Paris, France xii+ 132pp
Majnoonian, H., 2000. Protected areas of iran: principles and measures for protecting parks and areas. Environmental Protection Agency. Tehran. 742 pages. (In Persian)
Mani Murali, M., Ankita, M., Amrita, S. and Vethamony, P., 2013. Coastal Vulnerability Assessment of Puducherry Coast, India, Using the Analytical Hierarchical Process. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 13: 3291-3311.
Mars PhD Subject Catalogue, 2012. Biological valuation and connectivity assessments: tools to establish representative networks of Marine Protected Areas.
Maxwell, B. A., Buddemeier., R. W., 2002. Coastal Typology Development with Heterogeneous Data Sets, Regional Envir Change, Vol. 3, pp. 77–87.
Mokvandi, R., Maghsoudlo, B. and Mohamadfoam, E., 2012. Application of TOPSIS in Environmental Impact Assessment of Oil Refineries (Case Study: Khouzestan Super Heavy Oil Refinery). Environmental Researches, 3 (5): 77-86 (In Persian).
OSPAR, 2003. Guidelines for the Identification and Selection of Marine Protected Areas in the OSPAR Maritime Area. OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. Meeting of the OSPAR Commission. Bremen: 23-27 June 2003.
OSPAR, 2006. Guidance on Developing an Ecologically Coherent Network of OSPAR Marine Protected Areas, Rebelo, L. M., Finlayson, M., Stroud, D. A., 2009. Ramsar site under-representation and the use of biogeographical regionalization schemes to guide the further development of the Ramsar List, Ramsar Technical.
OSPAR, 2007. Guidance on Developing an Ecologically Coherent Network of OSPAR Marine Protected Areas. OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. OSPAR Commission, Reference Number 2006-3.
Padash, A., Jozi, S. A., Nabavi, S. M. B. and Dehzad, B., 2016. Stepwise Strategic Environmental Management in Marine Protected Areas. Global J. Environ. Sci. Manage. 2 (1): 49-60.
Pendred, S., Fischer, A. and Fischer, S., 2016. Improved Management Effectiveness of a Marine Protected Area through Prioritizing Performance Indicators. Coastal Management. 44 (2): 93-115.
Samadi Kuchaksaraei, B., 2019. Development of multi-criteria decision-making models for designation of coastal-marine protected areas in Iran (case study: Hormozgan province). Ph.D. thesis in Marine Biology, Marine Ecology, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch. (In Persian)
Samadi Kuchaksaraei, B., Fatemi, S. M. R., Danehkar, A., Jozi, S. A. and Ramezani-Fard, E. (In press). Determination of Ecoregions of Iran’s southern coasts as a basis to determine coastal-marine protected areas using GIS system. Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. (In Persian)
Samadi Kuchaksaraei, B., Fatemi, S.M.R., Danehkar, A. Jozi, S. A. and Ramezani-Fard, E, 2019. New guidelines for the identification and selection of coastal–marine representative areas for Hormozgan Province, Iran. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. (2019).
Spalding, M. D., Fox, H. E. G., Allen, R., Davidson, N., Ferdaña, Z. A., Finlayson, M., Halpern, B. S., Jorge, M. A., Lombana, A., Lourie, S. A., Martin, K. D., Manus, E. M., Molnar, J., Recchia, C. A., Robertson. J., 2007. Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalization of Coastal and Shelf Areas, BioScience, Vol. 57, pp. 573-583. 
UNEP-WCMC. 2008. National and Regional Networks of Marine Protected Areas: A Review of Progress. UNEP-WCMC. Cambridge. 156p
Woodley, S., B. Bertzky, N. Crawhall, N. Dudley, J. M. Londono, K. MacKinnon, K. Redford and T. Sandwith, 2012. Meeting Aichi Target 11: What Does Success Look Like for Protected Area Systems? Parks, 18.1: 23-36.
‌Yaghobzadeh, M., Danehkar, A., Jabbarian Amiri, B. and Ashrafi, S., 2012. Prioritizing Sensitivity of Coastal Ecosystems in the South of Iran Using Hierarchical Analysis. The First national conference on the development of the coasts of Makran and the maritime authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (In Persian)
Yamani, M. and Nohehgar, A., 2006. Coastal geomorphology of east of Hormuz Strait. Bandar Abbas: Hormozgan University Press. (In Persian)
Journal of Natural Environment
Volume 73, Issue 2
August 2020
Pages 341-354