the effect of natural protected area on surrounding villages (case study: badr and parishan protected areas, songhor, iran)

Many rural settlements are influenced by protected areas. the management measures along with social, and economic features of these areas can have both positive and negative effects on the surrounding villages in various forms. the present study aimed to study the effects of protected areas in iran on surrounding villages. we focused on 8 villages in songhor, a city in kermanshah province, iran. the villages are near the protected areas of badr and parishan. based on cochran formula, 250 subjects were considered to fill out the questionnaire relating to the effect of the protected areas on villages. also, we used a vikor model to investigate the effect of the protected areas on villages. we studied the relationship between the distance and the altitude of villages with regard to the protected areas using idw method. the findings showed that the protected areas had effects on welfare, livelihood, migration, and participation in rural development and the increased inequality. moreover, the closer the villages were to the protected areas, the more they were affected. the direct effects of altitude were also found.