Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology

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Khangholi E, Shayesteh K, Gili M, Ataeian B. Spatial Analysis of the Supply, Demand, and Flow of Cultural Ecosystem Services Related to Environmental Education in Malayer County. Iranian Journal of Applied Ecology 2025; 14 (2) :73-89
URL: http://ijae.iut.ac.ir/article-1-1272-en.html

Environmental education, as a cultural ecosystem service, reflects the capacity of natural environments to support learning, awareness, and knowledge transfer. This study aims to spatially model informal environmental education services in Malayer County using five criteria: land use, vegetation diversity, elevation diversity, protected areas, and accessibility. Multi-criteria decision-making methods, based on expert judgment and scientific literature, were applied. A population distribution map was created using 2016 census data to assess demand. The spatial flow of environmental education services was modeled with an omnidirectional flow method within a GIS environment. Results indicate that vegetation diversity is the most influential criterion (0.41), while protected areas significantly contribute due to greater altitudinal heterogeneity and richer vegetation. Comparing service supply and demand reveals a spatial mismatch in central areas, where high population density and limited vegetation lead to negative service flow values, reaching −0.86 in urban zones. Conversely, the eastern and southeastern regions exhibit higher service flow. These findings underscore the importance of diverse vegetation and protected areas in enhancing environmental education services and highlight the need to promote environmental awareness to prevent natural resource degradation.