Assessment of planning status of roads in Yasouj Forest Park from the natural landscapes aspects

Due to increasing demand for recreational activities in forested area, forest parks are being developed rapidly. A well-organized road network is very important infrastructure to access this kind of area. For such area and land use the road network should meet not only the technical criteria but also landscape and vision criteria. This study was conducted to assess the existing road network of Yasouj Forest Park (YFP), from technical and landscape points of view. Various landscapes were selected within YFP area to be assessed using a 200×250 meter sampling network. Technical criteria were then weighted using the pair-wise comparison method. Finally, Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) technique was used to assess the existing road network based on both technical and landscape criteria in GIS environment. According to the results, only 25% of the road network is located in the best rated classification. Also, our results showed that some parts of the existing roads were constructed in susceptible areas for erosion causing more cost for road maintenance in future. Results of this research can be a suitable guide to improve the current situation of the road network of YFP.