A qualitative evaluation of the results of implementing the Comprehensive Forest Safeguarding Policy in Guilan Province, Iran

The Comprehensive Forest Safeguarding Policy (CFSP) of the Hyrcanian Forests in Iran has been adopted and implemented ca. 17 years ago. However, the evaluation reports of the policy have not been released yet. If the empirical evidence does not show the conditions the implementation of this policy has led to, neither modification of decisions regarding the continuation of the implementation nor abolishment of the policy would be possible. Therefore, here the results of CFSP implementation were evaluated in Guilan Province. Qualitative evaluation and snowball sampling were conducted, followed by semi-structured interviews to discuss three ecological, social, and economic dimensions of the implementation results with 20 experts from the General Department of Natural Resources and Watershed Management, General Department of Environment, and Management and Planning Organization of Guilan Province. The data was thematic. Results showed that the implementation of this policy has been fruitful from an ecological perspective. Deforestation decreased, while restoration of degraded forest areas increased. However, discontinuity in budget allocation and contradiction between the amount of budget and national inflation rates have led to a lack of continuity in the conservation and maintenance of reforestation areas. In the social domain, the implementation of CFSP has led to the emergence of social issues such as unemployment, inequality, poverty, and debauchery among relocated villagers and compensated herders due to the lack of attention to the sustainable livelihood of villagers and forest herders. In addition, the unplanned relocation of forest herders has increased livestock grazing pressure on the neighboring areas. From an economic perspective, the CFSP implementation has led to the delimitation of national forest borders and the confirmation of state authority on national lands. However, the planned objectives were not completely achieved due to insufficient financial resources. The findings show that reviewing and modifying the CFSP implementation and evaluation is necessary due to the above-mentioned inadequacies.