جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "biodiversity" در نشریات گروه "علوم اجتماعی"

Illegal wildlife hunting, trading, and smuggling have devastating effects on both species' lives and society's economy. This phenomenon has several socio-economic causes and consequences. The effective management of wildlife trafficking requires identification and inclusion of all stakeholders (Kolahi, 2021: 26) involved in the supply and demand sides of wildlife trafficking in hard and soft management and planning frameworks (Kasterine & Lichtenstein, 2018: 23-24). Some studies show that focusing solely on restrictions and prohibitions on the supply side without considering the social actions of actors on the demand side can have unintended consequences. Trade bans, for example, can increase consumer demand and make poaching a more profitable activity by driving up the price of trafficked wildlife (Cronin et al., 2015; Leader-Williams, 2014: 112). The absence of strong supervision and continuous monitoring can strengthen black markets and perpetually increase the economic profit of wildlife trafficking for black market dealers (Challender et al., 2019: 2). Additionally, environmental sociologists aim to design and implement supply-side interventions that recognize the drivers of trafficking and reduce consumer demand (Wright et al., 2016: 5). It is argued that many wild species are currently caught by poachers through various methods, including direct hunting with guns, trapping in nets, and poisoning with chemical poisons, thus entering the cycle of trafficking due to unfavorable social conditions (Olea et al., 2022: 2-3; De Lange et al., 2021: 889). However, the various drivers involved in the wildlife trafficking process are still not well understood (Thomas-Walters et al., 2021: 489; Margulies et al., 2019: 216) and have been neglected by researchers, planners, and policymakers (Phelps et al., 2016: 483). Despite wildlife trafficking being a pervasive phenomenon in contemporary Iran, few studies have been conducted on its social, moral, and cultural aspects. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies on the drivers and consequences of wildlife trafficking. The current research aimed to investigate the phenomenon of wildlife trafficking in Iran as a social action from the perspective of environmental sociology. In this regard, a qualitative approach was used to study the two main groups of stakeholders in the Khalij-e-Fars Bird Market of Tehran: the sellers of smuggled wildlife and its buyers. A paradigm model of wildlife trafficking in Khalij-e-Fars Bird Market is presented based on the results of the study.

The present study took a qualitative approach based on "Grounded Theory" with the aim of theory-making based on interpretative-constructive foundations. This method was used to build a data-oriented theory for criticizing, expanding, and testing formal theories. This study used the same methodology as applied by Zare Shahabadi & Mohammadi (2021) and Ghaderzadeh et al. (2013), who previously explored the phenomenon of trafficking from a sociological perspective.The research tool was a semi-structured in-depth interview. The interviewees were stakeholders, who were active in the field of illegal wildlife trade in Khalij-e-Fars Bird Market in Tehran. They were selected through purposive sampling by using the snowball model. In the sample selection, we aimed to achieve "maximum variety" and "theoretical saturation." In this regard, 12 sellers and 11 buyers, who had extensive knowledge and experience in this field, were selected.After 20 interviews, no new information was presented, indicating "theoretical saturation." However, for more certainty, three more interviews were conducted. After each interview, the full text was carefully listened to and transcribed, capturing all the words. Data analysis was done through constant comparison and simultaneous data collection. The interviews’ texts were read multiple times to gain a general understanding of the data. At this stage, the primary (open and selective) codes were identified and grouped into categories. Finally, summarization was continued as much as possible and all the axial codes were used in the paradigm model. To ensure reliability of the research findings, all research processes, such as the research model, study group, data collection process, and analysis, were explained in detail. Additionally, the data obtained from the interviews were individually coded by two individuals: a main researcher and an invited colleague. The percentage of agreement between the coders was calculated using the following formula:  Reliability = consensus / (consensus + difference) × 100 The data obtained by the two researchers underwent content analysis and were compared using separate codes. As a result, a reliability of 85% was obtained by using the mentioned formula.

The results of this research showed that causal conditions in phenomenology of “wildlife trafficking” were "entertainment and enjoyment", "tradition", "pride and wealth", "experiment and scientific research", "mediation for smuggling" and "drug use", intervening conditions of "superstitious beliefs", "propaganda", and "imitation of others". The background conditions were "social and moral legitimization", "non-practical implementation of environmental laws and regulations", "poverty and unemployment", "individual and collective indifference and distortion", and "ignorance of the consequences of wildlife trafficking". The coping strategies included "education and culture", "intensification of legal supervision", "providing alternative employment opportunities to sellers", and "providing the necessary mechanisms for legal trade with permitted purposes". The consequences of coping with wildlife trafficking were "biodiversity protection", "restoring the human dignity of violators", and "respecting animal rights". Finally, the research findings were presented in a paradigm model.In line with the results obtained by Zhang et al. (2020), a wide range of drives, including recreational, food, and medicinal and cultural motives for wildlife trafficking, were identified as the causal, contextual, and intervening conditions in the current research. The present study showed that one of the main drives of wildlife trafficking was consumption of meat or body parts of wildlife as traditional medicines with therapeutic motivation. In line with this finding, other researches showed that in other countries, bear bile (Feng et al., 2009), pangolin meat (Newman et al., 2014), rattlesnake venom (Alves et al., 2013), and rhino horn (Watts, 2011) were bought and sold as medicine with the motive of relieving physical pain. Of course, despite the general perception, so far many of these medicinal and health agents are facing serious ambiguity of effectiveness from the viewpoint of modern medicine.In addition, the consumption of wildlife meat was one of the other findings of the present study. Due to the cultural differences in diets of nations, trafficking with the motive of buying and selling pangolin meat (Mason et al., 2012; McEvoy et al., 2019) and bat meat (Anti et al., 2015; Suwannarong & Schuler, 2016) were reported in similar studies, while the interviewees of the present study were looking for buying and selling the meat of wild birds, such as goose or wild duck.The findings of this study showed that preservation of wildlife or their body parts has become a means of showing wealth and pride among wealthy groups of people due to such reasons as high price, rarity, and special facilities it requires. In line with this finding, similar studies showed that the drives of some buyers of illegal wildlife products, such as rhino horn (Truong et al., 2016), tiger bone (Moyle, 2009) and elephant skin (McEvoy et al., 2019), or people, who served special dishes like shark fin soup to theirguests (Brierley, 2007), were boasting, showing wealth, or trying to show their belonging to special and prosperous classes of the society.In line with the results of the study of Day et al. (2014), the present research showed that some actors of wildlife trafficking tended to trade exotic wild animals, especially reptiles and rare ornamental amphibians. They did this with the motivation of entertainment and pleasure, boasting, and displaying wealth. Although tiger bone wine in the research of Feng et al. (2009) and rhinoceros horn opium in the study of Trang et al. (2016) were shown to be sold illegally with the motive of intoxication, no similar drives were found in the current research.Compared to previous studies, contribution of the present research in the production of knowledge should be considered as a qualitative explanation of the concept of wildlife trafficking in the Iranian context so as to bring the main stakeholders’ experiences of this illegal trade to the official knowledge. The findings of the present study could contribute to ensuring social health, environmental protection, and sustainability of economy based on biological resource-carrying capacity for future studies.

Based on the definition provided by the European Biodiversity Information System, biodiversity includes richness of life and diversity of patterns on 3 levels: 1) ecosystems and habitats; 2) species; and 3) genetic resources. According to this definition, comprehensive understanding of the concept of biodiversity involves recognition of threats, such as climate change, invasive species, fragmentation and land use change, pollution, and overuse of effective resources. On the other hand, the loss of biodiversity with all its unfortunate consequences is a global phenomenon that is still under threat despite the efforts made to protect it. This lack of success is largely due to underestimating people’s power in this process. The study of developing countries shows that local people’s short-term economic benefits from the exploitation of nature and their lack of awareness of its long-term effects are important obstacles to the protection of nature. Considering the extent of damage to the environment and ineffectiveness of governance, the most available option to reduce destruction is increasing people's awareness and encouraging their participations. At the same time, changing people's behaviors is a challenging issue. People’ desire to actively and committedly participate in the protection of nature is influenced by several factors. Behavioral change, conscious act, and voluntary participation in environmental activities can be influenced by internal factors (self-worth and individual motivation) (Molinario, et al., 2020) and external factors (economic interest and social and civic values and norms) (Li, Zhao, Ma, Shao, & Zhang, 2019).The social and civil factors affecting pro-environmental behaviors in developing countries, including Iran, have been given less attention, while the civilizing process can provide an important framework for predicting committed activities to protect biodiversity (Baynham-Herd, Amano, Sutherland, & Donald, 2018; Kashwan, 2017). In the current situation of Iran, it is very important to educate people and encourage them to participate in the process of biodiversity preservation by taking voluntary and committed actions. However, the evidence shows that there is a kind of passivity and indifference to environmental contributions. Thus, the following question is raised: What are the factors and components that explain cooperative behaviors of biodiversity and how important and effective are they? The innovation of this article was combination of the theoretical model of "planned behavior" and the theory of new civil actions. According to the current conditions of the Iranian society, the studied students' civic actions for protecting the environment were affected by their interactions and levels of network relationships. Their memberships and amounts of co-presence in virtual social networks by increasing their opportunities to talk could enhance their knowledge of biodiversity and augment civic activism. Therefore, the chain of knowledge-value-action showed itself more where it was possible to discuss the issue. Accordingly, an extended model was presented in this article, which put more emphasis on the variables of social and institutional structures of the society and thereby placed individual actions in its cultural, social, and institutional contexts. In this model, the development of a virtual public space and the possibility of discussing issues and problems as a determining variable in strengthening the knowledge of biodiversity and evoking environmental values were added to the variables related to the previous theories. A collective discussion about the topic could play an important role in the construction and evolution of the society (Inglehart, 1990).

Material & Methods :

A survey of attitudes towards biodiversity was conducted among Shahid Beheshti University students in 2019. Using the stratified sample size method, the statistical population of 20,000 students was divided based on the 4 fields of humanities and social sciences, technical sciences and engineering, natural sciences, and architecture and art. To obtain the sample volume, Cochran's formula was applied. Since the method of collecting information was designed through a structured internet questionnaire on the Google Doc platform, the number of samples increased to about 500 people. Then, the questionnaire was sent to the sample students and 420 questionnaires were returned. Finally, after reviewing and refining the questionnaires and discarding the defective and incomplete items, 393 questionnaires remained. Also, a structured questionnaire and a 5-point Likert scale were employed to measure the research variables. In the extended model, the variable of dialogue feasibility (D) referred to the possibility and extent of discussion about environmental issues and the issue of biodiversity through dialogue networking. The problematic variable of biodiversity (R) referred to the knowledge of biodiversity and awareness of the risks and consequences of its destruction. To measure the environmental values based on Schwartz’s method (2012) with the help of factor analysis, two types of value biases towards the issue of biodiversity were identified: Instrumental Value (IV) and Egocentric Value (EV). Although two types of moral and legal obligations might be created depending on the value bias, this set of norms was considered as Biodiversity Norms (BN) in this research since no significant distinction between the two was empirically recognized. Also, environmental activism was measured based on the two main types of civil action (CPA) and individual action (PBA).

The purpose of the current research was to expand the model of "planned behavior" (Ajzen, 1985; Schwartz, 1992; Stern, Dietz, Abel, Guagnano, & Kalof, 1999) and explain "pro-biodiversity" behaviors among the students based on the possibility of forming dialogue circles. While it was expected that environmental civic activism be more common among university-educated people, the scope of such a behavior was limited according to the results of this research. Only 15% of the studied population expressed that they had civic environmental activities. This finding confirmed the results of Shafiei & Malek Saeidi (2020) and Veisi et al. (2019), who showed that environmental civil actions in the Iranian society had a low range and no significant difference in civil activism could be seen between the male and female students and the students of various degrees. Yet, the results of this research showed that environmental civic activities among the students were different based on the study field type and the students’ presence in nature (Shafiei & Maleksaeidi, 2020; Veisi, Lacy, Mafakheri, & Razaghi, 2019).In addition, as Reis, Lindenmeier, and Schild suggested, the effects of institutional and legal conditions on environmental civic activism were of importance (Lindenmeier, 2008; Reis, 2020; Schild, 2018). The results of this study revealed that civic activism could be enhanced when the law, formal norms, and regulations were perceived ineffective in supporting biodiversity in the eye of the public. The belief in the ineffectiveness of the existing laws and regulations in preserving nature in Iran and the belief in individual effectiveness drove the concerned activists towards voluntary activities in order to offset the weakness and inefficiency of public organization and government. Also, the active memberships in the environmental civic associations could lead to the promotion of group-based pro-environmental behaviors and moral responsibility towards the environment and biodiversity (Schmitt, Mackay, Droogendyk, & Payne, 2019; Liobikienė & Poškus, 2019) According to the findings of this research, the most important conditions for the development of civic activism at both institutional and cultural levels were creating a dialogue-oriented public atmosphere and a universal value system. This meant that civic activism required the development of a culture of dialogue in the public sphere. Public sphere means a place where it is possible to create a free conversation without threats, which can include both the real and cyber public realms. The results showed that in the current conditions of the Iranian society, the cyber public space could make it possible to increase the knowledge of biodiversity by creating a context for interactions and dialogue. In other words, as Leventon and his colleagues found (Leventon, Duşe, & Horcea-Milcu, 2021), although expanding public space did not provide a sufficient condition, it was a necessary condition for environmental civic activities. As long as collectivist and universal value biases were able to appear in social networks, they could form self-reinforcing circles that both strengthened the universal value system and facilitated pro-biodiversity civic activism.

This article aims to quantitatively evaluate the biodiversity of medicinal plants in order to protect vulnerable species. Biodiversity has been involved in a crisis rooted in human activities since past. In lack of control over unlimited human expectations, the destructive effects on  environment will increase and the crisis will exacerbate. Iran has a variety of ecological regions where have created animal and plant biodiversity and also a variety of climates, ethnics, cultures, customs and rituals.The present study is based on field studies in the rural areas of Darab city of Fars province: Morvarid, Hyderabad, Dehmord, Fath al-Mubin. Based on the findings, 89 species of medicinal plants belonging to 43 families are identified in the target areas. The largest number with 14 species belongs to the mint family. This area has 6 biological type, 4 vegetative forms, 8 consuming organs with 3 germination periods that are distributed on both even and steep surfaces. According to the results, 9 plants are seriously exposed to damage: Ferula Assa-foetida, Pistacia Atlantica, Zataria Multiflora, Amygdalus Scoparia Spach, Ziziphus Spina Christi, Prangos Ferulacea, Dracocephalum, Myrtus Communis, Ziziphora Clinopodioides. High interest in the use and exploitation of medicinal plants, failure to record indigenous knowledge and lack of revitalization, development, conservation and supervision, will probably lead to deletion of effective plant genes of this region in the near future.

This article seeks to re-read nomadic life in Iran based on the link between natural and human fields. The main question is: how is it possible to recover and re-read this natural-cultural heritage and use it for the future? It seems that the vital relationship between nomads and plant communities on the one hand and the knowledge and skills of nomads to work in geodiversity and climate diversity on the other hand, the dissection of nomadic life, it makes it possible. From the descriptive-analytical-critical method and a combined approach of botanical, geological, deep ecological and spatial and land use planning, the activities of nomads as plant sociologists(oral) were first performed in the high plateau of Iran. Findings show that the lack of knowledge in identifying the relationships of domains (natural and human) and the lack of attention to biological domains and basic resources such as land and plants, has led to nomadic life as a tissue in natural and human studies, be forgotten more than ever. Therefore, retrieving and re-reading it requires reviving interdisciplinary studies by documenting and producing endemic ecological data and utilizing global data for optimal use in the design of sustainable habitats for It is the future.

This study was conducted to study the level of ecological knowledge of sixth grade elementary school students in Tabriz and to study the role of gender and the level of education of parents in it.

This research was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of data collection method. The statistical population was the sixth grade elementary school students in Tabriz in the academic year 1397-1397 that the sample size using Morgan table was 392 people. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose face and content validity was confirmed by consulting professors and experts and its reliability was confirmed by halving method. Data were analyzed using t-test, one-way analysis of variance and post hoc test using SPSS25 software at a significance level of 0.05.

Based on the results of one-group t-test at a significance level of less than 0.05, the amount of ecological knowledge and its dimensions in sixth grade elementary school students in Tabriz were significantly lower than average. The level of studentschr('39') knowledge, except for the pollution dimension, was lower than average in other dimensions of ecological knowledge and was assessed at an unacceptable level. Also, the results of independent t-test showed that girls have more ecological knowledge than boys and only the knowledge of the material cycle in male and female students was not significantly different (p <0.05). The results of one-way analysis of variance also showed that the level of ecological knowledge and its dimensions are significantly different according to the education of parents (p <0.05). The results of Duncanchr('39')s post hoc test showed that studentschr('39') level of ecological awareness and its dimensions increase with increasing level of parental education.

The process of ecological literacy is drawing and expressing studentschr('39') progress; In other words, students can learn different subjects and subjects in ecology education in order to reach a defined level of understanding of ecology and ecological events.