Rural tourism destinations face mounting pressure on the ecological environment—the primary resource for tourism; in particular, tourists' environmentally detrimental behavior damages water, soil, vegetation, and other natural resources, thereby hindering the sustainable development of rural tourism areas.

The aim of this research is to identify the key drivers influencing tourists' pro-environmental behavior. In terms of objective, the study is applied-developmental; regarding nature, it is analytical and exploratory; and it employs modern futures studies and systems modeling methods. The study's statistical population consisted of experts in the tourism sector who were familiar with the concepts of futures studies; a sample size of 30 individuals was determined based on the theoretical saturation approach and purposive sampling. This research focuses on four villages—Arast, Kandolus, Nava, and Yush—as case studies, selected from among Mazandaran Province's 15 designated tourism villages based on their nomination status for the global tourism registration list (2022). The results of the study, utilizing Micmac structural analysis, revealed that out of the 20 variables examined, seven—namely the preservation of rural architecture and natural landscapes, tourists' environmental awareness, the perceived importance of tourist participation in environmental activities, the implementation of tourism pricing policies that incorporate environmental considerations, village cleanliness and waste management, the provision of financial incentives for green tourism businesses, and the development of green, eco-friendly infrastructure—fell within the quadrant of the direct influence-dependence matrix where the level of influence exerted exceeds the level of influence received.

Three variables—private sector investment in eco-friendly tourism infrastructure, government and local institutional support for environmentally compatible tourism activities, and the management of tourist influx relative to the village's tourism potential—were selected as key factors influencing the pro-environmental behavior of tourists in tourism-oriented villages of Mazandaran Province.

Keywords: Pro-environmental behavior, Micmac structural analysis, tourism-oriented villages