Assessment of Geotourism Susceptibility of Karstic Geosites: A Case Study of the Hawraman District

ABSTRACT
Today, geotourism, as a subset of tourism, plays a significant role in tourism development. Karstic regions are one of the areas prone to geotourism and tourism development. Since the majority of geotourism attractions in the Zagros regions of Iran are composed of karstic phenomena, this research evaluated the geotourism potential of the karst area in the Hawraman region of the High Zagros. Utilizing library and field data, valuable geosites in terms of geotourism development were identified. Due to the non-uniform value and importance of the geosites, the prone geosites in the region were valued using two methods: Reynard and GAM. In addition to valuing each geosite using these two methods, the resulting values from both models were combined to determine the final value of the geosites. The final value for each geosite was calculated based on its characteristics. The value obtained for each geosite was calculated as a percentage. Based on these percentages, the final value of each geosite was calculated according to both the Reynard and the GAM evaluation models. These values showed close similarity in both models, with slight differences. Based on the results of this study and the average percentage obtained from both models, the Belbar Waterfall Spring had the highest value with 77.64% of the total score, followed by the Selin Grand Lapies with 69.04%, the Sirwan River with 67.48%, and the southern slopes of Kousalan with 64.24% of the total score.”.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The tourism industry is a highly competitive, destination-based activity that varies in every region according to its natural, cultural, and constructed resources The relationship between tourism and geological sites and their features, including geomorphological sites and landscapes, is discussed under the title of geotourism. Therefore, geotourism is one of the new fields of tourism that completely follows the principles of tourism and is a combination of geology, geomorphology, natural landscapes, topography, rocks, and minerals, with an emphasis on the processes that create these forms. One of the regions with great potential in terms of geotourism is the karstic regions, where various solutional phenomena such as sinkholes, caves, springs, canyons, and karrens (lapies) are formed, which collectively are termed karst phenomena.
In Iran, the majority of karstic regions are located in the Zagros belt. Among these, the Hawraman region in Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces has provided suitable potential for tourism due to its geological, geomorphological, climatic, and historical characteristics. Hawraman is one of the areas situated in limestone structures, and considering its geographical location and the presence of diverse landscapes, it has high potential for the development of the geotourism industry, specifically karst geotourism.
 
Methodology
"This research is based on descriptive-analytical methods, and the survey method, as well as library studies, were used to gather information. In the present study, two methods, Reynard and GAM, were used to evaluate the promising geosites in the region.
Reynard Method: In this method, a geomorphosite is interpreted based on its scientific and Additional values. In fact, this method uses evaluation cards for geomorphosites that cover two parts: scientific value and Additional value.
Scientific Value: In the scientific value, the indicators of rarity, interconnectedness, repeatability of observation, completeness, and paleogeography value are considered. In scientific value, the paleogeography indicator is very important due to its contribution to the analysis of earth conditions and paleoclimate.
Additional Value: The Additional values section evaluates several dimensions, including environmental, aesthetic, cultural, and economic aspects.
GAM Method: This method was developed for the evaluation of one of the mountains in Serbia. The GAM model uses a table structure of main and complementary values for the evaluation of geosites.
 
Results and discussion
The area is located in the High Zagros zone. Based on the 1:250,000 geological map of Marivan-Baneh, the entire study area is composed of layered to massive limestone rocks of the Bistoon Formation. The Bistoon limestones in this area have been incised by about 2000 meters by the Sirvan River, resulting in the formation of deep canyons. In addition to the main Sirvan Canyon, other secondary canyons, such as the Jivar natural-historical canyon and the Howraman Takht-Belbar Canyon, are part of the region’s karstic landscape.
In this research, the characteristic karstic geosites of the region, including sinkholes, karst springs, caves, various types of lapies, and canyons, were primarily identified and examined during field visits.
Geosite Evaluation:
Reynard Method: In this method, geosites are evaluated based on scientific and additional values. According to the items in Table 1, the region’s geosites were evaluated based on their scientific values. Based on the results obtained, the Belbar springs had the highest value with 3.25 points out of a total of 4 points. Following this, the Selin megakarren (Selin giant karren), the Sirvan canyons, and the southern slopes of Kousalan were ranked next, with 3, 2.85, and 2.5 points, respectively.
After evaluating the geosites based on scientific criteria, in order to complete the potential assessment and comprehensive evaluation of the geosites, these geosites were also evaluated for their additional value. The results of this evaluation are shown in Table 2. In this assessment, similar to the evaluation based on scientific values, the Belbar waterfall spring has the highest value with 3.25 points out of 4, and the Sirvan River, the Selin megakarren, and the southern slopes of Kousalan are next with 3, 2.5, and 2.25 points, respectively.
GAM Method: The results of the GAM evaluation indicate that, similar to the Reynard method, the waterfall spring has the highest value with 19.25 points out of a total of 26 points. Following this, the Selin Grand lapies, the southern slopes of Kousalan, and the Sirvan River are ranked next with 18.25, 18, and 17.25 points, respectively. It should be noted that this method considers features such as aesthetics, visual diversity, extent, infrastructure, accessibility, etc., so geosites with better status in these respects have higher values."
 
Conclusion
"Following the library and field studies in this research, finally, 15 geosites were selected and evaluated as the final and potential geosites for investigation using the two methods, Reynard and GAM. The main goal was to evaluate the geotourism potential of the region’s geosites based on combining the results obtained from these two methods.
To determine the final value of the geosites, the set of information obtained from both methods was combined to determine the final value of each geosite. To do this, in the Reynard method, the average of the scientific and additional scores for each geosite was calculated, and the average score of each geosite based on both criteria was determined as a percentage. In the GAM method, based on the multiple values of each geosite, their final rank was also determined as a percentage. Then, to determine the final value of each geosite in the Reynard and GAM methods, the obtained scores, which were converted to percentages, were averaged, and finally, the final value of each geosite was specified.
Based on the combined results obtained (Table 5), the Belbar waterfall spring has the highest value with 77.64% of the total score, followed by the Great Selin Lapies with 69.04% in second place. The geotourism value of the other geosites is in the following ranks.
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
 We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.