Ecoregional Planning: An Overview of Concepts and Approaches

Abstract

An ecoregion is defined as an area delineated by natural boundaries, possessing a distinct ecosystem compared to its neighboring regions and disregarding political borders. Planning for these regions is referred to as ecoregional planning. Ecoregional planning aims to achieve a balance between ecology, economy, and society, emphasizing the integration of local and human needs with environmental conservation and biodiversity. This paper is a review article conducted through qualitative research, with the goal of providing an organized perspective on ecoregional planning using a descriptive-analytical approach. In this regard, the conceptualization of this type of planning, its historical evolution, various approaches and processes in implementing this type of planning, the development and presentation of the six-dimensional ecoregional models, and the examination of case studies based on the proposed approaches and processes were conducted. The findings indicate that the success of ecoregional planning lies in taking a holistic approach towards economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors and examining the connections between these factors with a focus on ecological issues.