Geospatial assessment of sustainable ecotourism potential in the Naryn Region, Kyrgyz Republic

Sustainable ecotourism has emerged as an important strategy for balancing environmental conservation and regional socio-economic development, particularly in ecologically sensitive mountain regions. The Naryn Region of the Kyrgyz Republic possesses substantial ecotourism potential due to its high-altitude landscapes, rich biodiversity, alpine ecosystems, and cultural heritage. However, spatially explicit assessments of ecotourism suitability in Central Asian mountain environments remain limited. This study aims to identify and evaluate suitable areas for sustainable ecotourism development in the Naryn Region using a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based weighted overlay approach integrated with Earth observation and remote sensing data. Seven thematic criteria were incorporated into the spatial analysis, including elevation, land use and land cover (LULC), proximity to water bodies, transportation accessibility, protected areas, human settlements, and cultural heritage sites. Open-access geospatial datasets derived from Sentinel-2 imagery, SRTM digital elevation models (30 m), HydroSHEDS, OpenStreetMap, and field-based GPS observations were processed and standardized within a multi-criteria decision analysis framework in ArcGIS Pro. Criterion weights were assigned according to their relative importance for ecotourism suitability in mountainous environments. The resulting suitability map was classified into five categories ranging from very low to very high suitability. Moderate suitability areas dominate the region, covering approximately 51.49% of the total area, followed by high suitability zones (43.50%), while very high suitability areas account for 1.52%. Areas with high ecotourism potential are primarily concentrated near water bodies, protected areas, transportation networks, and cultural heritage locations. The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of GIS-based spatial modelling for identifying ecotourism development opportunities and provide a practical decision-support framework for sustainable tourism planning and environmental management in fragile mountain ecosystems.