Environmental Impact Assessment of Development in the Southern Coast of the Caspian Sea (Northern Iran)

Transcription

1 Polsh Journal of Envronmental Studes Vol. 13, No. 3 (2004), Envronmental Impact Assessment of Development n the Southern Coast of the Caspan Sea (Northern Iran) N. Safaan 1 *, M. Shokr 1, B. Jabbaran 2 1 College of Natural Resources, the Unversty of Mazandaran P.B Sar, Iran; 2 Research Student Graduate School of Bosphere Scence, Hroshma Unversty, Kagamyama, Hgash-Hroshma Japan Receved: 24 July 2003 Accepted: 3 November 2003 Abstract One of the crtcal aspects whch has been emphaszed at UNCED conference s utlzaton of coastal areas and ts ssues. Consderng the afore-mentoned crtcal problems, the coasts of the Caspan Sea are of partcular mportance. The Caspan Sea s located between fve countres: Iran, Turkmenstan, Azerbajan, Russa and Kazakhstan. The area, wth hgh and specfc ecologcal capabltes, s very sutable to urban development. There s no doubt that development and ndustralzaton mght provde soco-economc welfare to the area-dependent nhabtants, but soco-envronmental ssues could be generated by mproper applcaton of technology and ndustry. As hurred development, wthout carryng-out envronmental mpact assessment n watersheds of the Caspan Sea, mght mpose adverse effects on the envronmental qualty of the water body, the present study ntends to execute Land Degradaton Model (LDM) and determnaton of ecologcal susceptblty of terrestral ecosystems usng the Object-Orented Method n sub-watersheds of the water body. Snce long-term envronmental ssues could not mmedately be solved by technologcal approaches, understandng the relatonshp between development and envronmental protecton and consderaton of envronmental mpact assessment (EIA) as an mportant plannng tool n plannng process, are beng focused n order to acheve sustanable development. Keywords: Caspan Sea, Iran, development, Land Degradaton Model (LDM), technology Introducton The Caspan Sea, the bggest lake n the world, s about 400,000 km 2 n area and at the present tme s shared by Iran, Russa, Turkmenstan, Azerbajan and Kazakhstan. Russa and Kazakhstan have the shortest (695 km) and the longest coasts (2700 km), respectvely. Turkmenstan has 1200 km, Iran 900 km, and Azerbajan 850 km [1]. Polluton of the water body, reducton of bodversty and also the water body-dependent natural resources have caused concerns for people who lve on *Correspondng author; e-mal: mnsafa@yahoo.com the coast of the Caspan Sea. As land-orgnated polluton has created a major contrbuton to polluton of the water body, belef n the commtment of the abovementoned countres to the envronmentally-sound management of the coast of the Caspan Sea mght mprove the envronmental qualty of the water body. The present study has been carred out to determne the extent of the envronmental qualty n the southern coasts of the water body (Map1). It should be remembered that envronmental mpact assessment s necessary for assstng ecologcal capabltes, and preventng the performance of envronmentally destructve projects, as a tool to obtan sustanable development [2].

2 320 Safaan N. et al. I - extent (ntensty) of the degradng actvtes n subwatershed AI - area occuped by the degradng actvtes n subwatershed AS - area of sub-watershed D - mportance value of the degradng actvtes n subwatershed The present paper ntends to determne the envronmental qualty degradaton extent n sub-watershed scale through the applcaton of LDM. Study Area Map 1. The geographcal poston of the study area. Habta [3] has also mentoned that the mere technologcal assessment transformaton from the northern countres to the southern countres cannot meet the envronmental requrements. So, the localzaton of the assessment technologes and plannng, lke LDM, used n ths research [4], can be an approach n envronmental mpact assessment methods (EIA). In fact, LDM s one of the envronmental mpact assessment methods (EIA) that analyzes the mpact of human actvtes n a quanttatve manner n a regonal or watershed scale. Concernng LDM, a lterature survey shows that the model was frst developed by Makhdoum [5] and executed n Azerbajan Provnce. Jabbaran [6], Azar [7], Nour [8], Mmaran [9] and Jafar [10] have run t n dfferent watersheds of Iran. The unque features of the LDM are ts dependence on expert judgment and extensve feldwork. These characterstcs mght mslead low experence envronmental assessors durng applcaton of the model. Snce they should assess the degree of ecologcal susceptblty and also the extent of envronmental degradaton, on the bass of hs own ecologcal knowledge and expert judgment. Jabbaran [6] has taken some steps to develop and ntroduce an object-orented method to determne the ecologcal susceptblty of terrestral ecosystems. Nevertheless, determnaton of the extent of degradng factors are based on expert judgment. Meanwhle he has proposed the followng formula for objectve determnaton of the extent of the degradng factors: I = ( = n AI AS x D ) (1) The study area s located n the southern coast of the Caspan Sea between 35 o to 36 o north and 50 o to 54 o east. It has km 2 area (1.46% of the area of the country, Data Book of Mazandaran Provnce, 1998). Ths macro-watershed has 11 sub-watersheds of dfferent areas (Table 1). Alborz Mountan Range plays a key role n establshng a unque ecologcal feature (dense forests, good ranges and fertle lands) through trappng the evaporated water of the Caspan Sea. The study area ncludes 20 countes and about 2,673,852 nhabtants wth a densty of about persons/km 2 [1]. Method For carryng out the present study, LDM was appled. The model s one of the modelng methods and mght be classfed as a system analyss approach [5]. In the model framework, lnear equatons are beng appled to express the degree of envronmental degradaton n sub-watershed scale. For expressng the extent (ntensty) of the degradng factors, dfferent human actv- Table 1. General features of the sub-watersheds n the study area. No.of subwatershed No.of networks Area km 2 Percent

3 Envronmental Impact Assessment of Development Table 2. fcaton of ntensty of envronmental qualty degradaton. Qualty of envronmental degradaton 1 Mnor 2 Moderate 3 Severe 4 Very Severe Table 3. fcaton of Ecologcal Susceptblty of Terrestral Ecosystems. Qualty of ecologcal susceptblty 1 Very resstant 2 Resstant 3 Moderate 4 Susceptble 5 Very Susceptble tes mght be lsted n all the sub-watersheds as an mpact unt. Intensty of the degradng factors and determnaton of ecologcal susceptblty of terrestral ecosystems have been classfed on the bass of Table 2 and 3. In each mpact unt the degradng factors and ts ntensty mght be determned. In order to realze the mpact of human populaton on sub-watersheds, physologcal densty [11] has been ncluded n the model [5]. For expresson of the extent of envronmental degradaton and n order to compare sub watersheds, the followng formula s presented [4]: 1 LDM= (A x I ) ( = n D S LDM - Land Degradaton Model A - the degradng factor I n sub-watershed I - ntensty of envronmental degradaton n sub-watershed D - physologcal densty n sub-watershed S - ecologcal susceptblty n sub-watershed Results and Dscusson For determnaton of the ntensty of human actvtes, through usng topographc map, 11 sub-watersheds have been delneated, human actvtes have been lsted and ts ntensty has been subjectvely specfed. Table 4 shows physologc densty n sub-watersheds. On the bass of the object-orented method for determnaton of ecologcal susceptblty of terrestral ecosystems [6] and through usng maps of physcal re- ) (2) Table 4. Physologc densty n sub-watersheds of the study area. No. of sun-watershed Physologc densty (person/ km 2 ) Table 5. Mean of ecologcal susceptblty of sub-watersheds and ther classfcaton n the study area. No. of subwatersheds Ecologcal susceptblty sources (slope, face, elevaton, geology and clmate) and maps of land resources (sol, vegetaton) ecologcal susceptblty of sub-watersheds have been determned [12]. Table 5 reveals the mean of ecologcal susceptblty of terrestral ecosystems (sub-watersheds) and ther classfcaton. In a fnal step, LDM has, through the acqured data and nformaton, been formulated for sub-watersheds of the study area as follows: S 1 = XF XT FU X ZF HA H XU YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO DI IM R 2 610/5 = 196 (3)

4 RI RT Z IL PS UG W YA YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (4) /4 = YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (5) DI IM R 2 402/5 = XR YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (6) /4 = YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (7) DI IM R 4 845/3 = XR YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (8) /3 = XR YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (9) /2 = XR YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (10) /2 = YN YS WU WA FI GW EX TO (11) DI 2 IM 4 R /5 = 4463 S 10 = XF 2 XT 1 FU 3 X 2 ZF 2 HA 3 H 4 XU 2 XR 2 RI 2 RT 2 Z 3 IL 4 PS 4 OG 4 W 2 YA 2 (12) YN 3 YS 3 WU 3 WA 2 FI 1 GW 2 EX 1 TO 2 DI 3 IM 1 R 2 316/1 = 383 S 11 = XF 2 XT 1 FU 4 X 3 ZF 2 HA 3 H 4 XU 3 RI 3 RT 2 Z 2 IL 4 PS 4 OG 4 W 1 YA 2 (13) YN 3 YS 4 WU 2 WA 3 FI 2 GW 2 EX 1 TO 1 DI 3 IM 1 R 1 34/2 = 86 XF - transformaton of forest nto range XT - transformaton of forest nto orchards and vllas XZ - forest utlzaton X - transformaton of forest nto arable land ZF - tree cuttng for rural fuel HA - degradaton of habtat H - rratonal huntng XU - change n land use XR - transformaton of range nto arable land RI - transformaton of range nto ndustral land OG - over-grazng W - rratonal use of wetland YA - ar polluton YN - water polluton YS - sol polluton WU - over-use of water WA - waste FI - over-fshng GW - hgh groundwater table EX - nvason of exotc speces Safaan N. et al. In general, the fndngs of the study would be appled for prortzaton of mpact unts for allocaton of the developmental plans n the study area. Table 6 shows prortzaton of the sub-watersheds n the study area. Concluson In several past decades, human socety has understood that economc development models were not properly selected. Consderng ths new approach to economc development, the concept of sustanable development has been ntroduced nto human socety. At present, decson makng between ndustralzaton and protecton of envronmental optons s losng ts mportance n many countres of the world. Up to now, many countres do endeavor to acheve a knd of economc development to ensure not only mprovement n economc welfare but also n envronmental qualty as the bass of ther economc development. The results of the present research have revealed that the mpact of development on the envronment of the southern coast of the Caspan Sea s worrsome. Out of the 28 degradng factors beng studed n 11 subwatersheds of the southern coast of the Caspan Sea (Gorgan to Ramsar), especally n sub-watersheds 1, 3, and 9, whch have been known as the most susceptble regons due to rratonal uses, the followng factors are recognzed as the most degradng ones: over-utlzaton and rratonal use of forest, transformaton of forest and ranges nto arable and ndustral lands and, n general, the overall change n uses. Besdes, the absence of a Table 6. Prortzaton for allocaton of developmental plans on the bass of output of LDM n the sub-watersheds n the study area. No. of subwatersheds LDM ndex Degree of prortzaton

5 Envronmental Impact Assessment of Development compassonate future foreseeng and scentfc management s qute obvous. Low degree of degradaton n some networks lke 10 and 11 s due more to low physologcal densty (human presence) and/or low ntensty of human actvtes or n other words underdevelopment [8] than to the sutable physcal and natural condtons for development. Although the degree of the ecologcal susceptblty n most of the observed networks s low, any knd of development should be based on ecologcal (physcal and bologcal) condtons whch need assessment studes of ecologcal capabltes on a larger scale [8]. At any rate, based on the defnton of the development, no desrable perspectve for the future of the Caspan Sea and the people who are dependent on the sea envronment s conceved. Acknowledgements The authors would lke to express ther great thanks to the Natonal Scentfc Research Councl of Iran and the relevant people at the Unversty of Mazandaran for provdng the requred fnancal and techncal support for carryng out ths study. Reference 1. Army Geography Organzaton Vllages Data Base, Mnstry of Defense ABAZA H. A New Role for Envronmental Assessment, Our Planet, 7(1), 25, HABITA T. A Methodologcal framework for EIA for Urban Development, UN Center for Human Settlement, pp JABBARIAN A. B. Applcaton of Land Degradaton Model n Basn of Amr Kabr Dam, M.A Dssertaton, Faculty of Envronment, the Unversty of Tehran MAKHDOUM M. Envronment and Development n East- Azerbajan Provnce. 1st Semnar on Development n the East-Azerbajan Provnce JABBARIAN A. B. Developng an Object-orented Method for Determnaton of Ecologcal Susceptblty of Terrestral Ecosystems, Journal Envronmental Studes, the Unversty of Tehran, 21 (24), 57, AZARI D. F. Applcaton of Land Degradaton Model n Basn of Sefdroud Dam, M.A Dssertaton, the U Faculty of Envronment, the Unversty of Tehran NOURI A.A. Applcaton of Land Degradaton Model n Eastern part of Tehran Provnce, M.Sc. Dssertaton, Faculty of Natural Resources, the Unversty of Tehran MIMARIAN R. Applcaton of Land Degradaton Model n Eastern part of Tehran Provnce, M.A. Dssertaton, Faculty of Envronment, the Unversty of Tehran JAFARI H. Applcaton of Land Degradaton Model n Basn of Latan Dam, Journal Envronmental Studes, the Unversty of Tehran, 27 (24), 109, MILLER J.T. Lvng n the Envronment, translated by Dr. Majd Makhdoum, Tehran Unversty Press, No.1909, SAFAIAN N., SHOKRI M., JABBARIAN A. B. Determnaton of Ecologcal Susceptblty of Terrestral Ecosystems n the Southern Coast of the Caspan Sea, Journal Envronmental Studes, the Unversty of Tehran, 29 (28), 45, MANSOURI S. M. Applcaton of Land Degradaton Model n Hourmozgan Provnce, M.Sc. Dssertaton, the Unversty of Tehran Faculty of Natural Resources, The Unversty of Tabrat Modarres