Analysis of Structural Characteristics of Rural Women Network for Establishment of Collaborative Management in Desert Areas (Pilot: Tajmir Village, Carbon Sequestration International Project, South Khorasan Province)

Degradation of arid and desert areas due to climate change and human activities has turned into a serious and alarming environmental challenge. The process of arid area management urged policy makers and planners to pay due attention to women as a focus group so that empowerment of women and winning their collaboration is one of the fundamentals of development organizations of different countries. In present study, the social capital of rural women network was assessed through network analysis method by applying network analysis questionnaire and direct interview with members of women rural development groups in Tajmir village, Sarbishe County, South Khorasan province. As a matter of fact, trust and collaboration ties were measured based on macro-network indices (density, reciprocity, average Geodesic distance and the ratio of out-group ties to in-group ones). It was found out that the social capital and speed of the circulation of trust and collaboration bonds were moderate. Therefore, local community mobilization, social empowerment, social and economic stability of the relevant community, and last but not least, and the establishment of collaborative management necessitate an increase in the level of social capital, so that collaboration capacity is built to impact considerably on community-based collaborative management trend.