Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the Persian Gulf International Tourism City

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment aims at avoiding negative effects on the environment by identifying, predicting and interpreting information of the potential impacts of a development on the environment. The main aim of the current research is the environmental impact assessment of the Persian Gulf international tourism city. The proposed area for this project is located in 15th Km of eastern shore of Bandar Abbas city, at the conjunction of Rud_e_ Shour, Shirin and Minab River International Wetland (Ramsar Site). Although this project bring about considerable positive effects in the region, such as development of tourism, job opportunity and economic growth in the area, however its negative impact outweight positive ones. The worst negative impacts related to this project are disturbing the ecosystem balance of Shour, Shirin and Minab River International Wetland and other sensitive coastal area of marine ecosystems, besides threatening important and predominant wildlife species and ground water resources. Detailed environmental parameters and project activities during construation and utilization have been identified based on similar projects and technical documents. The Simple Matrix and Spatial Analysis (Map overlaying and Geographical Information System) methods were the tools used to make the assessment. So, based on the results from the assessment the project is rejected due to ecological sensitivity of the area. But, due to its importance in the economic growth of the region, it is suggested that its site construction be carried out according to environmental criteria.
 

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