جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « local communities » در نشریات گروه « آبخیزداری، بیابان، محیط زیست، مرتع »

In the past decades, the development of human needs, climate changes, urbanization, and the rapid development of industry, agriculture, drought, floods, and soil erosion have caused watershed degradation. On the other hand, resources are used to exploit natural resources. An imbalance in the functioning of watersheds causes various hydrological, ecological, economic, and social functions to face various problems and reduce the watershed health and associated functions. A healthy watershed plays an essential role in ensuring the stability of socio-economic systems and improving human well-being. Due to their complexity, they should be restored and controlled through ecological risk assessment to ensure their restoration and effective management. Therefore, comprehensive watershed management is vital to maintaining the health and sustainability of natural resources and watersheds.

Watersheds as socio-ecological systems have management complexities due to the interaction between the components of ecosystems, the types of activities carried out in them, and the dynamics of these systems. Hence, it is necessary to consider different watershed management approaches to conserve watershed services appropriately. Towards that, the Watershed Management Ladder (WML) consists of three main approaches: non-integrated (fragmented) watershed management, integrated watershed management, and comprehensive watershed management. It is being employed to recognize the position of the watershed in the study ladder. In this research, a field visit to the region was first conducted to draw a conceptual model according to the goals, visions, and missions of the stakeholders. The detailed implementation studies of the Fakhran Watershed were then comprehensively reviewed with the primary goal of evaluating the management position of the Fakhran Watershed in the watershed management ladder. In this regard, at first, the management approaches of the ladder were explained. Then, each approach was investigated according to the detailed implementation studies of the study watershed. On the other hand, since each watershed is placed on the rungs of this ladder according to the conditions and research carried out, brief solutions necessary to move to higher rungs in the Fakhran Watershed were also presented.

The non-integrated watershed management approach, interdisciplinary sub-approaches, and watershed approach have been carried out based on the studies conducted in this watershed. The research results in Iran indicated that non-integrated watershed management approaches, integrated watershed and comprehensive management of watersheds, and the place of watersheds in WML are yet to be evaluated. Therefore, the current research discusses the position of the Fakhran Watershed in Iran’s South Khorasan in WML. Nonetheless, the implementation-research approach, including health and sustainability assessment, which is one of the essential aspects of this approach, has to be studied in the watershed. In this regard, in the studies of the Fakhran Watershed, the scale of the watershed has been considered to solve hydrological and ecological problems, and the watershed approach has been taken into account in this watershed. The next step of this approach is the implementation-research step, but the plans are implemented again based on the guidelines that still need to be evaluated and updated. So, success at different levels of management in watersheds requires having appropriate knowledge in explaining processes and dealing with various events in watersheds, which is a departure from the current conditions and evokes health in performance and sustainability in providing watershed services. Accordingly, in addition to indigenous knowledge, modern science is influential in empowering communities and moving toward sustainable development. It can be used in the comprehensive management of watersheds and other knowledge. The Fakhran Watershed is, therefore, placed in the third rung of the non-integrated watershed approach.

A significant part of these deficiencies and the need for the placement of the studies of this watershed in the higher rungs of WML are towards the description of public services and similar and common existing syllabi for the developmental and implementation projects. It confirms the necessity of revisiting the description of goal-oriented and problem-oriented services in the developmental and implementation projects. Accordingly, watershed officials and policymakers should use new scientific and community-oriented approaches in line with the changing social, economic, cultural, and managerial needs to take up the watershed management position to the upper rungs of WML.

One of the important problems in the process of implementing and maintaining watershed projects and natural resources is the lack of effective participation and cooperation of watershed residents. Based on this, it is necessary and inevitable to pay attention to the inhibiting factors and also to identify ways to strengthen the participation of local communities in the process of implementing watershed and natural resources projects. This research, was done with the aim of knowing the socio-economic characteristics of local communities, identifying indicators that are effective in reducing obstacles and increasing people's participation in the implementation of natural resources and watershed projects, knowing the expectations and needs of the local community and finally, scientific and technical solutions have been presented to increase the level of public participation in Arpachai pilot area of ​​Zanjan Province .

In this study, four influential indices, including social-cultural, economic, natural, and managerial, were identified and categorized with 40 sub-indices. Necessary information was collected through surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and multiple sessions with community members and local experts. The sample size was determined using the Cochran formula, and the collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. Also, to check the validity of the questionnaire from Cronbach's alpha, factor analysis was used in order to reduce and categorize the variables affecting people's non-participation in watershed management projects.

The results showed that six factors explain 64.4% of the variance of the dependent variable and the education and information variable at the local level was recognized as the most effective factor that explained 29.97% of the variance of the dependent variable. Following that, the factors of improving the income and livelihood of villagers with 19.24%, diversity of economic activities and improving performance with 18.93%, strengthening the local economy with 13.92%, management of watershed projects with 11.34% and natural resources management with 4.3% were placed in the second to sixth priority, respectively.

In general, it can be said that the lack of information and awareness of the local community about the positive economic, social, natural and technical aspects and benefits resulting from the implementation of natural resources and watershed management projects in the area of their living and production is one of the important obstacles in the lack of participation and failure to achieve the anticipated goals in the implementation of watershed and natural resources projects in the study area. Based on this, attention and emphasis on the issue of building trust and increasing the level of social trust in the General Administration of Natural Resources and Watershed Management plays a significant role in the process of implementation and success of projects.

The overlapping of the vital needs of wildlife and humans on the one hand and the increasing human population have led to the intensification of conflicts between local communities and wildlife. Because brown bear has an omnivorous diet and large body size, they often require expansive habitats. These food requirements and wide-ranging behavior often bring them into conflict with humans and livestock. In order to identify the factors affecting the intensity of the brown bear's conflict with local communities, a questionnaire was prepared and interviews were conducted with 332 local communities in and around the brown bear's habitat in Kohgilouye va Boyer-Ahmad province. Using logical regression, social predictive factors on the level of acceptance of the brown bear's right to life were investigated. Also, using the social network analysis approach, the most important reasons for bear attacks on humans and human assets and the most important solutions for conflict management from the perspective of local communities were investigated. Results show that age, gender, education, the level of fear, the amount of people's property, the dangerousness of the bear, and the level of acceptance of the bear among the local communities have a great impact on the intensity of conflicts. On the other hand, social network analysis shows that from the point of view of local communities, the most important reason for brown bear attacks on humans is the annual drought and the sudden encounters between themes. The most important solution to reduce the risk of bear attacks on humans and human resources is to use deterrents and fencing around human resources. Finally, increasing the level of awareness of local communities in the region and securing fences around human resources and damage compensation schemes can help mitigate conflicts and, in some cases, improve the acceptance of bears.

The positive economic and social effectiveness of rangeland restoration projects activates the process of sustainable development and leads local communities to sustainable prosperity. The purpose of this study is to assess the socio-economic and environmental effectiveness of restored rangelands with Atriplex canescens plantation in Mallard county, Tehran province, Iran. The descriptive-analytical research method based on questionnaire was applied within the statistical population including 65 experts, 132 pastoralists and 29 local communities. The selection of samples was random and sample size were determined using Cochran's formula for three groups of experts (55), pastoralists (99) and local communities (27). To determine the validity of the questionnaire, a group of experts were used and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to estimate the reliability of the questionnaire. Also, Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare opinions of the studied statistical societies. The results of the comparison of economic, social and environmental indicators showed that A. canescens plantation had a significant effect on social index and had no effect on the other two indicators. Social- environmental effectiveness of planting A.canescens is related to increasing livestock products and improving the condition of ranching, According to pastoralists, the greatest economic, social and environmental effectiveness from planting A.canescens has been related to increasing livestock products and improving the condition of ranching, increasing the level of public awareness. In general, results of effectiveness planting from the point of view of all three groups are close to each other and they often agree on the effectiveness of planting Atriplex. This alignment in thinking of plantation will lead to success in the implementation of projects and the achievement of goals and perspective,.

Without a doubt villagers can play an effective role in improving their social, environmental and economic conditions. They also have an important and sensitive role in watershed areas and cooperation in watershed management activities. This stady aime to identify the factors affecting the indicators and sub-indicators of reducing the level of people's participation in natural resources and watershed activities, to know the expectations and needs of the local community, and finally to provide scientific and technical solutions order to increase the level of public participation in Sarabbagh region of Abdanan city. The influential indicators in this research include four economic, social, design-executive and educational-promotional indicators with 12 sub-indices determined and categorized.

This research was carried out as a survey using questionnaires, interviews and numerous meetings with community members and local experts. For this purpose, the factors affecting the non-participation of villagers in watershed management activities were identified and classified based on the literature review, questions from experts, as well as referring to the area and face-to-face interviews with residents. Then, questionnaires of paired comparisons and Likert were prepared as measuring tools and the relibility of the questionnaires was confirmed based on experts' opinions. Finally, after determining the sample size by Cochran's formula and completing the questionnaires, using the fuzzy AHP and the Friedman test, the indicators and sub-indices affecting the lack of sustainable participation of the people in the watershed management plans of the investigated catchment were prioritized. SPSS software was used for data analysis and Cronbach's alpha was used to check the validity of the questionnaire.

Based on the history of investigation in the study area and similar areas, unfortunately, the evidence indicates that most local communities do not know about the implementation and exploitation of watershed projects and natural resources in their living and production areas. The field surveys conducted in the study area showed that from the point of view of experts and local communities, the economic factor is the most important factor in the non-participation of local communities in watershed management activities. In Sarabbagh catchment, economic, design and implementation indicators play a greater role in people's non-participation than educational, promotional and social indicators. From the point of view of the experts, the sub-index of ignoring people's income as a direct economic incentive and not paying attention to non-governmental organizations have the maximum and minimum importance in people's non-participation, respectively, with an average rank of 9.35 and 3.69. From the point of view of the local communities, the sub-indices of ignoring people's income as a direct economic incentive and not paying attention to non-governmental organizations have the maximum and minimum importance in the non-participation of the people, respectively, with an average rank of 9.02 and 4.68

In general, one of the most important measures that can be taken in order to remove the obstacles to the participation of local communities in watershed projects is to identify, categorize and rank the factors that cause their non-participation in these projects. Prioritizing the factors affecting people's non-participation is a fundamental step in the cycle of people's management of watersheds and proper management of watersheds. The general result of the survey of local communities indicates that participatory management increases the capabilities and optimal productivity of other facilities and resources in the catchment. Implementation of multi-purpose watershed projects and taking into account the interests of the watershed residents, as well as the participation of local communities in the various stages of monitoring, studies, needs assessment, implementation, and maintenance of watershed projects can cause economic motivation, attention to the local force in the implementation of projects, employment, and active participation of the people in the mentioned stages. Attention and emphasis on the issue of trust of the local community and increasing the amount of social trust in the General Administration of Natural Resources and Watershed Management are among the factors that can reduce or eliminate the obstacles of non-participation of the local community in the implementation and exploitation of watershed and natural resources projects.

The conditions in which an individual or society is under tension due to social, economic, and environmental changes are called vulnerability. Vulnerability of rangeland beneficiaries and subsequent poverty of beneficiaries has caused unsustainable operation of rangelands. On the other hand, the degree pf vulnerability of rangeland beneficiaries in areas with more rainfall restrictions and its side socio-economic influencing factors is not completely known. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the level of socio-economic vulnerability of the rangeland beneficiaries in the dry region of Yazd province and to examine the convergence of beneficiaries' and experts' opinions on their influencing factors.

The study area of this research is the pastures located in the Yazd-Ardakan Plain and the local communities that benefit from it. The research tool in this study was a researcher-made questionnaire that was completed by 97 farmers and local experts in the pasture sector (n=97). In this research, in order to measure the degree of socio-economic vulnerability, the formula proposed by Me-Bar and Valdez was used and to check the convergence of the opinions of experts and beneficiaries in two dimensions of social and economic, Mann-Whitney and Independent t-Student statistical tests were used using SPSS software.

The results of the research showed that among the social factors, the parameter of the demographic characteristics of the beneficiaries with a value of 17.46 has the greatest impact on the level of vulnerability. Among the economic parameters, the parameter of providing support inputs with a value of 17.80 showed the greatest impact on reducing the level of vulnerability. The degree of socio-economic vulnerability of the beneficiaries of this study was calculated as 7.19, which indicates a high degree of vulnerability of pasture land users. The results of the convergence of opinions showed that there is a significant difference between the opinions of experts and users in the field of economic parameters affecting vulnerability. The area of ​​the rangeland and the limitation of the customary system were recognized as the most important parameters of the difference between the two groups in the economic dimension. Also, the results showed that the most agreement between the opinions of experts and operators is related to the parameters of livestock insurance and other productive parts of the pasture, incomes outside the exploitation of the pasture. In the social dimension, no significant difference was found between the opinions of experts and beneficiaries. Separately, in the social dimension, the parameter of access to resources and easy access to information became significant and was introduced as the parameter that the two groups had the most disagreement on in terms of impact on vulnerability.

According to the earned results, solutions such as supporting farmers in crisis situations, cash and non-cash investments in the restoration and exploitation of pastures, teaching the correct way of exploitation in line with sustainable livelihood It is suggested to plan to increase the agreement between the beneficiaries and increase their participation in the field of revitalization and proper exploitation of the pastures in order to reduce the vulnerability of the pastures. The results of the convergence of the opinions of beneficiaries and experts showed that the mentality of beneficiaries and experts on economic factors affecting vulnerability is different. The important result of this research is to reveal the need to improve the knowledge of government officials about parameters that harm the livelihood of pasture beneficiaries in areas with dry geography. Also, the development of pastures requires a review of the economic factors that reduce the damage to the livelihood of local beneficiaries.

Today, the occurrence of various events such as climate change, drought, flood, land subsidence, as well as the increase in population and the subsequent increase in demand in order to meet human needs, has caused many changes in the functioning of watersheds and the interaction of different ecosystems. In other words, excessive pressure on natural resources, unprincipled use of resources, and disruption of ecological balance in different watersheds have caused disruption, reduction of balance, and change in the behavior of watersheds leading to instability. The imbalance in the functioning of watersheds has caused various hydrological, ecological, economic, and social functions to face problems, and the role of local communities has decreased in the direction of sustainable development of watersheds, which requires the study, evaluation, and fundamental management of watersheds. One of the reliable management approaches accepted by the international communities is integrated watershed management (IWM), which plays an influential role in managing natural resources by prioritizing watersheds. Therefore, this research has tried to analyze the detailed-implementation studies of the Fakhran Watershed in South Khorasan, Iran, as an example of the detailed-implementation studies of the country based on IWM.

To carry out this research, the Fakhran Watershed was first visited, and the watershed conditions were examined from the viewpoint of hydrology, erosion and sedimentation, water resources, socioeconomic and cultural status, and the potential of local communities and ecosystems. Detailed implementation studies of the Fakhran Watershed were obtained from the General Directorate of Natural Resources and Watershed Management of South Khorasan Province. They were evaluated and compared based on the IWM structure in the country.

The research results showed that cultural issues, laws related to watershed management, upstream policies affecting local communities, and modern knowledge of watershed management in the soil and water protection field still needed to be seen in these studies. In the economic aspect, despite the existence of economic strengths in the region, very general solutions have been pointed out, and the potential economic capabilities of the Fakhran Watershed, such as barberry, saffron, and jujube agricultural products, have been overlooked. The assessment of social issues also shows that the social needs of different age groups of believers, issues related to women, customs and rich culture of the region, and similar things have yet to have a place in the executive studies.

Various human activities and the occurrence of natural phenomena have caused changes in the behavior and performance of watersheds and disturbed the ecosystems’ balance. Different studies and management scenarios have been carried out by the relevant organizations to improve the watersheds' conditions, which could have led to better results. In this regard, revisiting the detailed-implementation studies of the Fakhran Watershed indicates that none of the six principles of comprehensive management, including politics, economy, society, culture, law, and knowledge, have been adequately considered in these studies. Also, the principled implementation of engineering, biological and bioengineering operations without considering the six principles of IWM cannot be employed in the future as a suitable approach to solve the problems of watershed residents. Therefore, studying watersheds and issues related to watersheds should be minutely reviewed, and the IWM approach should be extensively used to advance the goals.

Low income level of local communities is one of the causes of natural land degradation. Implementation of moringa peregrina cultivation development plan in the desert areas of southern Iran leads to its economic development. The economic level required by every rural household has become. The research data were extracted from the moringa peregrina development plan prepared by the Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Management Organization and all data were calculated in the base year of 1400. Due to the limited land and the need for an appropriate criterion for the participation of each rural household, the minimum economic level was determined in each of the executive areas. Determining the minimum economic level using the financial evaluation of the project, financial indicators of net present value (NPV), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), internal rate of return (IRR) and return on investment (ROI) for the duration of the project from 1400 to 1420 Was examined. Considering the location and topography of the region in general, financial indicators indicate the appropriateness and profitability of the project. Taking into account the average costs of each household in the village of Sistan and Baluchestan province in the implementation of the plan of minimum economic level in plain areas (0.8 hectares), flat areas (3.24 hectares), terrace areas (4.48 hectares), areas Mahour hill (11.08 hectares) and mountainous and impassable areas (6.21 hectares) have been estimated. The minimum level obtained can provide decision makers with valuable information for desert land management in areas prone to moringa peregrina cultivation.

Owing to premium properties such a transformation of forage with low quantity and quality into high quality dairy and meat products, compromising with arid and semi-arid rangeland and resistance against diseases, camel has basic function in extensive grazing systems. These properties have made camel herding as one of the strategies in sustainable development in natural resources management and sustainable livelihood of local communities. Nevertheless, camel herding is facing various challenges in Iran. This study aimed to strategic analysis of camel herding systems from Kalkooyi nomads and rangeland experts’ viewpoints in Qom Province. In this order, strength, weakness, opportunity and threat factors were identified using semi-structured interview. Then, weighting factors was done through designing and completing questionnaire based on two stakeholders. Data analysis was done using SWOT framework in Microsoft Office Excel. Result showed that the most important internal factors affecting camel herding in strength criteria was positive attitude and the interest and motivation towards camel herding among Kalkooyi nomads and in weakness criteria was shortage in suitable water sources for livestock drinking from both nomads and experts’ viewpoints. Also, between external factors as opportunity criteria, positive attitude of community members towards camel and its products and in threat criteria lack of comprehensive planning and roadmap for camel herding were the most important factors. Strategic position of camel herding was determined as offensive (SO) from nomads’ viewpoint with weights of 3.502 and 3.407, respectively. This position was determined as competitive (WO) from experts’ view point with weights of 2.073 and 2.517, respectively. Since both stakeholders assigned high weights to opportunity factors, the ultimate emphasis is on providing the condition for using opportunities of camel herding as well as strengthening the strengths and reducing the weaknesses. The result of this study helps executive managers and policy makers to plan and adjust camel herding roadmap with providing more information.

Resilience is one of the strategies to reduce the vulnerability of communities in dealing with natural hazards. Among environmental hazards, drought is the most costly natural hazard due to the decrease in production and severity of suffering for villagers and farmers. Assessment of the effects of recent drought in the country, Indicators of low resilience of societies against this natural hazard are therefore indispensable for resilience of societies against drought. This is an applied research and has been done by descriptive-analytical method with the aim of measuring and evaluating the level of rural resilience in facing drought risk. To conduct research, using library resources, indicators and factors affecting rural resilience were identified and defined operationally. Then, using the field method and the questionnaire, the required information was gathered and the information collected using SPSS software Processed. The statistical population of the rural farmers is Hablehrood. For this purpose, 9 villages from different areas of the province with different levels of drought and development were selected and based on the Cochran formula, 271 farmers were selected as sample size. The tests used in this research are single sample T, Friedman test and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed that the level of field fluctuation was at an undesirable level and lower than the average level, and the rural areas of Hablehrood watershed were at risk of drought occurrence in the vulnerability to resilience.

One of the challenges of todaychr('39')s world, in order to solve this problem, different countries should manage their water resources in the best way. With the occurrence of droughts and the excessive withdrawal of water resources, livelihoods of local communities are facing critical situations. Therefore, the main Purpose of this study was to Pathology of Underground Water Resources Management among Local Communities in the Western Basin of Jasmourian Wetland. The statistical population of the study consisted of a total of 6112 users, Has Deep and Semi-deep wells in the Western Basin of Jasmourian Wetland.  Using the Cochran sampling formula Number 174 people were selected for study. The instrument of the study was a questionnaire which its validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was established by calculating Chronbachchr('39')s Alpha Coefficient. Data analysis was done by SPSS win18 software. Results of correlation analysis showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between The amount of income, government support, the use of participatory approach, education level, government support, the use of communication media, the use of educational-promotional publications, the views on the management of agricultural water resources and knowledge of the management of groundwater resources with the use of groundwater resources management operations in Agriculture section. In addition, the results of ordinal logistic regression showed that between Variable independent the variable of knowledge of using water resources management operations with the value (0.087) has the greatest impact on agricultural water management. In addition, the results of the Factor analysis of the pathology of untapped exploitation of groundwater resources in environmental, economic, social and psychological factors were classified which together account for nearly 77 percent of Variance the total number of agents this means known from 100 percent factors of the 77 percent factor in this research.

Like most of the wetlands in the country, Bisheh Delan Wetland is in poor condition and its ecological balance is fragile and unstable. The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a training program on the importance of Bisheh Delan Wetland and how to use it responsibly by governmental and non-governmental stakeholders with the aim of repairing and supporting its restoration. In this regard, 10 workshops were conducted in a non-randomized purposeful manner in order to gain insight into the economic, social, technological, political, and cultural issues of the study area. Then, using elite ideas, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the wetland were identified. After, in accordance with the CEPA Action Plan, four strategies, including: A) public participation-information and socio-economic issues, B) promotion of national conservation and cooperation wetland management, C) achieving optimal environmental status and D) achieving optimum soil and water status were determined and then ranked. Based on the results of the strategy rankings as well as the results from the QSPM matrix, the conservative WO strategy was identified as the main strategy for the study area. In this strategy, handicrafts and indirect sales of its products to tourists are opportunities in the region that can, while directly and indirectly employing local communities, reduce the region's weaknesses (such as lower household income levels, poor infrastructure facilities and etc). Based on the results of this study, empowering local communities in achieving participatory wetland management is one of the best strategies for sustainable utilization of Bisheh Delan Wetland.

Nowadays, the adverse effects of climate change and its damaging effects have become an environmental, social and economic problem. Assessing the vulnerability of local communities to climate change as an important step in identifying effective mechanisms and prioritizing management will be enhancing flexibility and increasing adaptability. This research is field-survey research, performed by using field observation and completing a vulnerability questionnaire to climate change in three villages of Aghabarar, Seyyed Ayaz, and Seyyed Ahmad in Qasrshirin city. The study was based on the vulnerability indexes such as exposure, sensitivity, and adaptation capacity. Questionnaires were completed among the target groups, which were finally analyzed using statistical tests such as the analysis of variance, Fisher, and Levin. The results showed that the components of exposure, sensitivity, and economy in Qasr Shirin city were vulnerable. Also, there was no significant difference between the three villages in a dry climate, and the vulnerability of Aghabarar village was 3.43, Seyyed Ahmad village was 3.30, and Seyyed Ayaz village with a value of 3.13 was higher than the average value of vulnerability. Also, Seyyed Ahmad village had the highest level of environmental vulnerability in the face of climate change with a value of 4.1. The vulnerability of exposure components and sensitivity is due to climatic events, geographical location, and dependence of local communities on natural resources and climate. Also, the high vulnerability of the economic component is due to the poverty and lack of physical capital of the communities. The vulnerability of the three components of exposure, susceptibility, and economics has caused the vulnerability of the communities studied. These factors affect the compatibility of local communities and countries, their willingness, or ability to adapt. The government with local involvement can effectively respond to the negative effects of climate change as well.

The purpose of this study was quantitative and qualitative assessment of the natural resources education and the impact of different educational tools on the environmental attitudes of villagers. The research area consists of four forest villages Champalk, Khanesorkh, Samoq and Shorab in the Doreh Chegheni Township and the statistical population of the study was villagers are living in the four villages mentioned (N = 2306). The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula of 208 people. The data were collected by questionnaire that validity and reliability were confirmed respectively through content validity and computing Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.813). Data analyzed by SPSS software. According to the results, villagers presented the highest scores of assessment of the quality of the provided trainings to the following components: increase awareness of the importance of forests and rangelands (4.33), change in the procedure of people in dealing with natural resources (16.4), impact on people's perspective on conservation of natural resources (4.14). 90% of the people believed that participation in these courses increased the awareness of the importance of forests and pastures and, according to 85% of the people; these courses have changed their behavior in dealing with natural resources. The results of mean comparison indicated that the use of educational tool excluding video viewing significantly improved the environmental attitudes of individuals. The results of the study indicate that participation in training courses and the use of appropriate tools can improve the attitude of natural resources and their desire to be protected.

This article describes a research aiming to investigate factors affecting community participation and to predict community acceptance of vegetation-based management scenarios in the Hable-rud River Basin. The Hable-rud River Basin which is a transboundary basin is extended between Tehran and Semnan provinces in Iran. In this research, vegetative management scenarios include: the current condition, terracing, saxaul plantation, riparian restoration, forage growing, bunch seeding, contour furrowing, tree plantation, grazing exclusion, seeding, drill seeding, orchard development, and agroforestry. Through an interview with the stakeholders of the basin, a predefined questionnaire was completed for each respondent separately. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were tested. On the basis of Cochran formula, 379 respondents were chosen in a stratified sampling scheme among the local communities of the basin. The factors influencing people's participation in various districts of the basin were investigated. The community acceptance level of watershed management actions was quantified using binomial probability distribution. Financial support policies of the government were identified as the most effective factor in community participation for the study area that attained the highest value in the viewpoint of people living in Sorkhe and Ivanakey districts. Community participation was evaluated in four forms including support by heart, labor support, financial support, and labor and financial support. The analysis indicates that scenarios of agroforestry and orchard development have the highest level of labor and financial support. Central Firoozkooh and Central Damavand districts have maximum labor and financial support level. The results of the binomial distribution analysis show that scenarios of agroforestry and orchard development have highest preferences among the local communities of the Hable-rud river basin. The results of this research can be used by managers and decision makers to promote soil and water resources protection as well as to promote the adoption of management actions at the watershed scale.

The aim of this study was to discover the Obstacles of local community’s participation in biological restoration and desertification control plans in the Lapui County, Fars Province. The study is an applied research in terms of purpose, a survey study in terms of collecting data, a field study in terms of controlling variables, and a exploration study in terms of research method. The statistical population of the study consisted of 600 active households of Sustainable Development Cooperative in the Lapui County. Using the Morgan's and Krejcy's tables, the sample size was determined to 234 households. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire whose validity had been confirmed by a panel of experts, and its reliability was confirmed by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α > 0.7). The data analysis was conducted by using the SPSS18 and AMOS software. In order to analyze the results, in descriptive section, the centrality (mean and mode), and the dispersion (range of variations, variance, and standard deviation) statistics were calculated, and for the inferential part of the analysis, an exploratory factor analysis was used to factorize the barriers. Results indicated that the most important barriers to participation of local communities in the carbon sequestration project can be identified in six categories: lack of mutual trust and belief, lack of awareness and information channels, administrative and institutional barriers, the implementation barriers, lack of government support, and lack of community needs assessment and satisfaction, which explained a sum of 83.36% of the total variance. The credibility of these barriers was also confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis.

Monitoring and managing the wildlife populations and habitats required to model the species distribution and habitat suitability. So, Gazella subgutturosa potential distribution in Mishdagh Protected Area was modeled using fuzzy (based on ecological knowledge of local communities) and MaxEnt (based on species occurrence records) approaches; thus, in addition to model the species distribution using maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt approach) and fuzzy inference system (fuzzy approach), we can also assess and compare the performance of each approach. In addition, the accuracy of predictive models was tested using jackknife test. Also, we applied threshold of 10%. Based on results of fuzzy and MaxEnt approaches, the most important variables for species potential distribution modelling were land use, distance to farms and distance to water sources. Also, 47.45% and 14.08% of study area predicted as species potential presence area in fuzzy and MaxEnt approaches, respectively. According to results of jackknife test, success rates of fuzzy and MaxEnt approaches were 80.95% and 66.66%, respectively (p

Desertification and land degradation have created a defective cycle of environmental problems, and have intensified degradation trend. Economic-social challenges and political crisis are considered parts of the consequences of land degradation, which may increase the vulnerability of the affected societies. To strengthen the resilience of local communities to cope with any natural disaster, it is necessary to identify and prioritize the impact of these phenomena to solve them based on prioritization of these effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate and prioritize the social - economic impact with moderate desertification in the Nasrabad region from the perspective of local communities and the participation of the villagers in line with desertification. In this study, numerical taxonomy was used to prioritize socio-economic impacts of desertification. Using the Cochran formula and given the population of the study area (5579 Person), 80 samples were collected. In this study, due to the average wind erosion, the first rank was allocated to the spread of dust and environmental problems from the perspective of local communities. The people of the region, more than anyone else, have experienced and understood the ways of interacting with these fragile ecosystems over time. Therefore, these interaction methods should be considered as the key to solving the challenges of desertification or as the best and perhaps last chance to deal with it comprehensively.