Abstract Ecological capability evaluation is referred to as evaluation of potential capability of land and determination of its natural land use. In this paper, ecological capability of Lille Basin in Lahijan was evaluated for afforestation and forest expansion using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). For this purpose, information layers (slope, elevation, geographical directions, temperature, rainfall, humidity, soil type, and canopy cover) were prepared by digitizing the data obtained from concerned organizations. First, the layers were prepared based on coordinate systems and pixel value. Then, they were standardized using fuzzy membership functions. The evaluation criteria were prioritized with regard to expert opinion, and by using multi-criteria... |