Abstract

The growth of population and its activities, as well as the development of big cities and the change in climate, have resulted in permanent or seasonal dryness of lakes and wetlands, thereby accumulation of evaporite minerals, especially salt in these lakes. This will have extensive environmental impact on cities, villages and agricultural areas. So, analyzing how to reduce vulnerability of villages and cities
against natural risks has become a critical and extensive issue in the field of planning and risk management. The present study, as a strategic plan for environmental risks in villages located in the southeast of Lake Urmia, with a descriptive analytic purpose, has applied an analytical approach to this issue. In this research, we identified the internal and external factors using SWOT. Then we applied AHP, on a Likert scale, to rank the internal and external factors, in order to choose the best strategy analyzing SO, WO, ST, and WT. The final result of assessing the internal and external factors determines the strengths of the region (with a total final value of 0.483), the opportunities facing the region (with a total final value of 0.179), the weaknesses (with a total final value of 0.23), and the threats around the region (with a total final value of 0.107). Considering the internal and external factors, a defensive strategy would be the best strategy, and it would have a relative advantage compared to other strategies.