A better use of outdoor recreational places could be achieved when the areas are responsive to visitors' socio-psychological needs in addition to other visitors’ needs. In other word, outdoor recreational areas should be designed based on a variety of visitors' socio-psychological needs. These were investigated in Daland Forest Park, Gorgan, Iran as a case study. In this study, socio-psychological characteristics of visitors’ needs to the Park were investigated and then management guidelines for the area were presented based on the results. In doing so, 168 questionnaires filled out in the Park in summer and fall 1391. Questionnaire justifiability was confirmed by two experts and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The results show that most visitors to this area are aimed at having mental relaxation. Also, about 72 percent respondents prefer to see collaboration between police forces and park guards for park security management. Chi-square test was used to examine if there is any relationship between sexes with some socio-psychological needs. The results of this study not only reflect the Park status but, they reflect visitors’ expectations of different socio-psychological aspects that can be used for a better park management.

IntroductionUrban landscape is experiencing rapid changes which put all urban domains under pressures. These processes revolutionize urban landscape into spaces without ecologic values. The sustainability of green patches and corridors has been scathed by lack of ecological approaches in planning and design. Therefore, urban green spaces structures and functions have been damaged. Green spaces have been changed into isolated, fragile and unsustainable areas. Controlling green spaces changes process, decrease fragility and improvement of sustainability are vital for green spaces in urban contexts. Utilizing and wide use of ecological frameworks in planning and design is compulsory and inevitable in these conditions.

This study is aimed to access the impact of land use change (from forest areas to forest parks) on vegetation and soil inParisan's park (Ilam Provience). For this purpose, three zones including non-recreation, extensive recreation and intensive recreation were chosen. In each area 20 sample plots in a systematic random design (100 m´150 m) were established. Herbaceous species type and their coverage were recorded using 4 microplots (1.5 m2) within each sample plot. In each plot, three soil samples were taken from 0-30 cm depth and a mixed sample was transferred to soil laboratory. Cluster Analysis and Detrended Correspondence Analysis were used for better understanding of the vegetation structure, to avoid subjective classification and to indicate the major gradient of variation within the vegetation structure of three areas. Canonical Correspondence analysis was applied to determine important soil variables of three areas. Results showed that the vegetation in intensive recreation area was completely different from non- and extensive recreation areas and was classified as distinctive group. Total nitrogen, organic carbon, phosphorus and exchangeable potassium and litter depth were decreased in the intensive recreation area, but pH and bulk density were increased.

Concerning the newness of economical valuation of methods of the country parks and forests, In this research it is attempted to validate Sisangan forest park using one of the classical methods. On this basis, some semicircle was drawn with the park as center and with equal radiuses. The result was the division of the whole country in to six different zones. Then, through calculating the surface of each region and its resident population and also the money required by people to visit the parks from questionnaires, estimation of regressional equation between the parameters was attempted. Through data analysis, we were able to draw the forest park demand curve, which was indicator of high recreational value of the Sisangan park (52.932 million Rials). Therefore by using right & proper management conservation of the natural environment and environmental value, as well as part of the recreational requirements of the people was provided.

Concerning the newness of economical valuation methods of the country parks and forests, in this research it is attempted to validate sisangan forest park using one of the classical and common methods. On this basis, some semicircle was drawn with the park as the center and with equal radiuses.The Country was divided into six different zones. Then, calculating the surface of each region and its resident population, also the money required by people to visit the parks was calculated. According to the collected data from questionnaires, and the estimations.The regressional equation between the mentioned parameters was attempted. Through the data analysis, the forest park demand curve, was drawn which was indicator of high recreational value of the sisangan park (52.932 million Rials).The results indicate that by using right and proper management the conservation of the natural environment and environmental values, as well as the recreational requirements of the people provide.

Although the vulnerability assessment of forest parks is used to determine the threats they face, a rapid and holistic framework has not been established well. The primary objective of this study is to adopt a framework for rapid assessment of forest parks vulnerability, examined in Lavizan forest park in Tehran (Iran) as the case study. The vulnerability assessment has been conducted, using the evaluation matrix on the basis of landscape and ecological values and threats. In this model, the most important values and threatening factors of the Lavizan forest park have been identified and assessed, based on the intensity of their effect as well as occurrence probability. Finally, this article proposes five strategies to reduce the vulnerability. Results from this research indicate that the most important values have been air purifcation, wildlife, flora and fauna species, environment regulation, mental health, and scientific resources and the most important threats have included reduction of habitat diversity, intensive exploitation of the resources, fire, woodcutting, and reduction of ecological connectivity. Based on these vulnerabilities, the most important strategies propose the use of affordance strategy formulation framework to preserve and enhance ecological and landscape values of the park.

Background and Objective: In this research, the economic value of Recreational (non use) functions and the factors affecting the willingness to pay Yasouj Forest Park-e Abshar's visitors using double dichotomous choice contingent valuation questionnaire was estimated.Methods: 180 questionnaires in the spring and summer of 1392 through the completion of interviewed visitors were collected. According to Bids amounts for 1000, 2000 and 3000Tomans was determined for park entrance fee. In addition to other information about the socio-economic characteristics were collected. Due To estimate the parameters influencing the willingness to pay of visitors the log it model was estimated.Findings: Based on the results, the 77.2% of visitors were willing to pay to protect and preserve the park. The Average willingness to pay (EWTP) of each sample about 19,085 rials was obtained. Variables such as bids, income, length of stay in the park and visiting the park were significant.Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this study provide important information about planning to promote the park for quality recreational facilities. For example, set park's entrance fee up to 19085 Rials per person, Sources of income which can be spent on equipment and cause satisfactory parks and recreational facilities provided for the visitors.Also, through the participation of young people interested in the environment and recruits of the honorary guards, can be used to remove contaminants, helping to beautify and protect the privacy of parks used to be great.

Forest parks are one of the most important natural ecosystems of any country, which provide various functions and services for mankind. Therefore, their preservation is considered as one of the main goals of human activities. Nowadays, due to the role of forest park ecosystems in attracting tourists, the evaluation of their visual quality has become very important. Aesthetic quality is defined as the relative beauty of the landscape, which depends on the visual features including physical, biological and man-made elements present in a place. Knowing the effective factors and criteria in the visual quality of the image of the land, as a suitable tool for evaluating and locating areas with aesthetic-cognitive value, can help managers and planners in the selection and effective management of images with visual value. Therefore, the goal of this study is assessing the visual quality of the landscape of Chaldereh forest park of Tonkaben city located in Mazandaran province. In this research, the visual quality classification method (Q-Sort) was used to evaluate the visual quality of the forest park. The research data was gathered in the form of a field survey, random sampling and the completion of the Q-Sort questionnaire by 60 visitors to the forest park. The finding of assessing the visual quality of the landscape of Chaldereh-Tenkabon forest park with the method of visual quality classification showed that the main criteria for improving the visual quality of Chaldereh-Tonekabon forest park include the existence of natural features (mountains and hills), the relaxing atmosphere, open and panoramic views of the surrounding landscapes, and criteria like the lack of integration of buildings and vegetation and the lack of balance, visual disturbance, and man-made elements are the main reasons for decreased landscape quality of this park.

Taleghani forest park with a surface area of about 29 hectares is situated in the northern part of Abbasabad district. This park is limited from the north to Haghani Blvd, from the west to Modares highway, from the east to the Eastern Street of the park, and from the south to Hemat highway. It is one of the recreational sites in the city of Tehran.The aim of this study is to estimate the economic-recreational value of Taleghani forest park by Clawson method and the results can be used as an effective tool in the planning and management of development projects.This method is based on the estimation of the relationship between the number of people who visit the park and the average distance of their living places from the park as well as the average access cost.To this end, six circles with equal distances of 3300 meters were drawn, with the park as their center.Then, by using maps and existing statistics, the surface area of each region and its population were calculated. After that, the socio- economic data extracted from the visitors' completed questionnaires were analyzed and the curve showing the relationship between the access cost and the number of visitors to this forest park was drawn. Meanwhile, the calculation of different entrance fees was done and by adding them to the total access costs, the new ratio of the visitors was obtained and the curve of demand for Taleghani forest park was drawn. Ultimately, by estimating the surface area under the demand curve, the daily recreational value of Taleghani forest park was calculated to be 42, 400, 500 tomans. The analysis of the extracted social data shows that most visitors of Taleghani forest park are in age range of 20-25 years and that most of the subjects had a high-school diploma or university degree.

An investigation was carried out in some areas of Golestan Province including: Loveh forest, Soosara, Daland forest park, Tooskestan; Gilan Province including Siahkal and Asalem forests; Arasbaran and landscape of urban trees during 1999–2007. In this investigation, based on some morphological, physiological and molecular characteristics and also comparison with standard isolates two species Ophiostoma ulmi and O. novo-ulmi were identified as casual agents of Dutch elm disease where majority of isolates belonged to O. novo-ulmi. This is the first report of O. novo-ulmi on Ulmus glabra and U. carpinifolia, from Tooskestan forest and urban elm trees and here it is compared with O. ulmi. The O. novo-ulmi isolates of Iran belonged to the EAN (Euro-Asian) populations based on sequence comparison.