Analysis of the most important issues in the natural areas of Zagros ecosystems, Gilan-e Gharb

Local communities are directly related to natural areas and they affect the ecosystem. The objective of this study was to accurately identify the most important issues affecting the destruction of natural resources using legal cases of natural resources. To conduct this study, legal cases from 2006 to 2016 were used in the archives of the Natural Resources and Watershed Department of Gilangreb for the villages of Chelleh, Gowawer, and Gorsefid. By studying the cases, the type of violation and its amount were recorded and the legal materials from the sixth chapter of the Law of Protection and Exploitation of Forests and Ranges approved in 1967 were examined. In the current research, a descriptive-analytical method was used in the form of a quantitative content analysis method in order to evaluate the violations in the field of natural resources. The results showed that most cases of issues consist of fire (211 cases), while the frequency of saplings and tree cutting were 77 and 66, respectively. The frequency of cutting saplings and trees during the study period showed that the highest frequency of the aforementioned violation occurred in 2008, which was 1624 and 1505 for the saplings and trees, respectively. The number of fire events showed that its trend is increasing and the highest number occurred in 2016, which was equal to 31 items. In the three studied villages separately, the amount of sapling and tree cutting were higher than other types of issues. The statistical analysis results to analyze the significance of the difference between the mean issues indicated that there was no significant difference among the three villages, while the frequency of saplings and tree cutting has a significant difference. Besides, the Gorsefid and Chelleh, Gowawer and Chelleh villages have a significant difference in the number of fires, however, there was no significant difference between Gorsefid and Gowawer. Illegal grazing and fire events among the villages have significant differences. Generally, with the obtained results, it was proved that there are all kinds of issues in the studied villages such as fire, illegal grazing, cutting of trees and saplings, and smuggling of wood, firewood, and charcoal, which lead to the natural destruction of the region over time. Therefore, effective measures can be taken in this field by empowering and using the education of local communities in the use of nature, as well as applying strict laws to offenders.