Rural Development Oriented Ecotourism Planning on Catchment Basin Scale: The Case of Pabuçdere and Kazandere Catchment Basin

Abstract

This study was based on the hypothesis that “Ecotou rism is an important instrument in sustainable rural development and ecologically-base d landscape planning approaches which take the objectives of socio-economic develop ment and nature conservation have an effective role in this issue”. For this purpose, th e necessity of ecologically-based landscape planning approaches in the planning and implementat ion of ecotourism activities and the importance of the views of related stakeholders in decision-making process have been established in this study. The field of study was g rounded on subbasin and micro basin boundaries which take natural thresholds into consi deration instead of administrative boundaries which contrast with natural thresholds. A total of 31 micro basins, consisting of 20 basins in the Kazandere basin of a total of 2 93 km² in the northwest of Turkey and 11 basin in the Pabuçdere basin, have been assessed . A 3-phased method was followed in the study. Firstly, the inventory and data base of the field were created on Geographic Information Systems medium and micro basins were de termined. In the second phase, suitability analyses were carried out on the basis of the Ecotourism Opportunity Spectrum (ECOS) according to 6 basic components, 15 assessment factors, and 24 sub- criteria. In the third phase, the micro basins suit able for ecotourism potential were determined by creating a synthesis sheet on the fie ld of study as a result of related analyses and assessments, and ecotourism oriented d evelopment strategies were developed by utilizing the rapid rural appraisal co nducted in the area and visitor questionnaires as well. Keywords: Agricultural marketing, Geographic Information Sys tems, Landscape planning, Rural planning.