Determining the ecological capability of forest park Heydareh in Hamadan city, approach to carrying capacity model

Carrying Capacity is based on understanding the limits of acceptable change in indicators of environmental quality, is widely used in urban, regional and tourism planning. Therefore, a scientific, applied understanding of the estimation of carrying capacity and creating consensus amongst planners, researchers and executives of development programmers are prerequisites of the application of this method. The study adopted a descriptiveanalytical method and was conducted as a documentary study. The methodological concepts, components and framework of quantitative estimation of carrying capacity of land zones were identified through a systematic study. The analysis was conducted based on a sample of quantitative usage of carrying capacity in tourism development planning to determine the ecological capability of Forest Park Heydareh (Velayat) in Hamadan city using ArcGIS software in synthesis and overlapping the layers. The analysis was carried out using paired comparison method and an hourly model, which aimed to develop approaches to protect and increase the environmental capability of tourism industry in the studied area. The results showed that considerable decrease in the estimated allowable number of visitors - resulted from imposing ecological limitations and encouraging the private sector, NGOs and mass media about environmental knowledge and ecotourism – may significantly influence the planning process the Forest Park Heydareh (Velayat) in Hamadan city.