Journals Information
Environment and Ecology Research Vol. 13(1), pp. 120 - 130
DOI: 10.13189/eer.2025.130111
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Environmental Carrying Capacity Assessment for Environmental Planning, and Sustainable Management of National Parks in Saudi Arabia
Salman Makhld M Aldalbahi *
College of Architecture and Planning, King Saud University, KSA
ABSTRACT
The research discusses identifying and evaluating the most appropriate approach for assessing the environmental and tourism carrying capacity for the case of national parks in KSA, which can be integrated into the planning process methodology for developing parks. The research examined the approaches used and found five main approaches: Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC), Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS), Visitor Impact Management (VIM), Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP), and The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) methodology for assessing environmental carrying capacity developed by Cifuentes (1992). The concepts of these approaches were studied, then the advantages and disadvantages of each approach were analyzed. The results showed that the main appropriate approach for the case of national parks in Saudi Arabia is the methodology of (IUCN) for assessing environmental carrying capacity developed by Cifuentes (1992). Additionally, the Visitor Impact Management (VIM) approach can be used to assess the negative impacts of visitors and activities. The appropriate approach was applied to Saysad National Park in Taif city, and it was found that it can accommodate recreational and developmental activities. The physical carrying capacity equals 156,240 visitors/day, the real environmental carrying capacity equals 118,604 visitors/day, and the effective carrying capacity and operational management capacity equal 53,372 visitors/day. A proposed framework has been presented that can be applied to integrate the approach of environmental and tourism carrying capacity into the planning process methodology for national parks and the sustainable management.
KEYWORDS
Environmental Carrying Capacity, National Parks, Environmental Planning, Sustainable Tourism, Sustainable Management, Saysad National Park
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Salman Makhld M Aldalbahi , "Environmental Carrying Capacity Assessment for Environmental Planning, and Sustainable Management of National Parks in Saudi Arabia," Environment and Ecology Research, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 120 - 130, 2025. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2025.130111.
(b). APA Format:
Salman Makhld M Aldalbahi (2025). Environmental Carrying Capacity Assessment for Environmental Planning, and Sustainable Management of National Parks in Saudi Arabia. Environment and Ecology Research, 13(1), 120 - 130. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2025.130111.