SURVEY OF THREATINING FACTORS IN SARVELOT- JAVAHERDASHT 10% PROTECTED AREA USING SWOT ANALYTICAL MODEL

Northern forests of Guilan province are considerd as critical ecological resources thus protection and conservation of its flora and fauna seems very necessary. Ten percent protected forest area of Sarvelot - Javaherdasht with an area of about 21,254 hectares and average perimeter of about 74 km is located in east Guilan. Factors such as livelihood dependence of a large group of the population to this area, human activity and indiscriminate development has led to continuous reduction of its biodiversity and this has created more limitation for the survival of wildlife. The aim of this study is to investigate the threatening factors of the mentioned forest area and based on field studies and analysis of data through the SWOT technique which is a tetragonal model, first internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and then external factors (opportunities and threats) were examined during which 2 questionnaires were completed and analyzed by local authorities and individuals. Based on the SWOT technique the obtained results suggest that the existence of attractions and ecotourism potential of the region with a weighted score of 0.82 are the most important strengths, while the lack of environmental monitoring stations in the region with a weighted score of 0.692 is the most important weaknesses. Existence of favorable weather conditions, especially in spring and summer for tourists and local people with a weighted score of 0.844 is the most important opportunity. However, the most important threatening factors of the mentioned region with a weighted score of 0.848 are: the lack of environmental monitoring stations, constructional invasion of forest marginal population, overgrazing, roads, mines, illegal hunting and waste. Survey results show that because of the negative impacts of these factors, the biological quality of the region is under serious threat thus, protective strategies based on the SWOT technique are presented.