Examining the barriers of participation of local communities in the implementation of watershed projects in the Sarabbagh catchment of Ilam province

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.