Analysis of rangeland destruction symbols from the viewpoint of rural and nomadic stakeholders in Northeast Golestan Province

A number of factors cause negative changes in the quality and quantity of rangelands, which leads to downward sloping and severe soil degradation, vegetation cover, and ultimately decrease the income of stakeholders. Stakeholders and ranchers have an indigenous managerial experience at their rangelands because of their dependence on rangelands. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effective indices of rangelands downstream from the viewpoint of stakeholders in northeastern Golestan province. This research was a descriptive- applied one in terms of purpose, and it was surveyed by random stratified sampling method among the stakeholders in the study area. Questionnaires were used to collect data. The validity of the research instrument was evaluated using the experts' viewpoints and its reliability was evaluated based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the main variables of the study. The statistical population of the study consisted of 461 stakeholders in two rural and nomadic farming systems that 182 of them were selected by Cochran formula as sample size. The results showed that the downward trend of rangelands is more often detected by stakeholders with livestock indices than by vegetation and soil indices. According to the findings of the study, there was a positive and significant relationship between age and past livestock variables with stakeholder's view of rangeland's downward signs at 99 and 95% confidence level. According to the research findings, there was a positive and significant relationship between age variables and stakeholder's pastoral background with their view of detecting the downward trend of rangelands at 99 and 95% confidence level. Also, the results obtained from comparing the stakeholder's views in the two rural and nomadic systems showed that the nomadic stakeholder were more familiar with the indicators of the downward trend of the rangelands to rural stakeholder.