Amin Mohammadi Ostadkalayeh; Abolfazl Tahmasebi; Mojtaba Kashani; Mehdi Keshavarz Ghorabaee
Volume 31, Issue 1 , June 2024, , Pages 93-106
Abstract
Background and ObjectivesSound natural resource governance arises from the interplay of social and institutional-environmental responses by all stakeholders. This collaborative approach provides a platform for strengthening civil society alongside the government and private sector in natural resource ...
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Background and ObjectivesSound natural resource governance arises from the interplay of social and institutional-environmental responses by all stakeholders. This collaborative approach provides a platform for strengthening civil society alongside the government and private sector in natural resource management. Traditional management methods need help to address the increasing complexity of natural resource issues. Consequently, several approaches have emerged in recent years, with good governance being the most prominent.Golestan province, occupying 1.3% of Iran's land area (20,367 square kilometers), is in the country's north. Unfortunately, deforestation, excessive livestock grazing, and other human activities have threatened Golestan's natural resources in recent decades, posing significant challenges. The depletion of natural resources, coupled with environmental crises like floods and droughts, underscores the need for a detailed investigation of the province's natural resource management practices. This study aims to evaluate the alignment of natural resource management in Golestan province with sound governance principles.MethodologySeven indicators were selected for this research based on a comprehensive review of global and regional studies: participation, accountability, responsibility, rule of law and justice, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness, and consensus. The eastern cities of Golestan province served as the unit of analysis, with natural resource users and experts in these areas constituting the analysis unit. Cochran's formula determined the sample size, resulting in a target of 189 participants. After receiving and reviewing the questionnaires, 177 valid responses were included for statistical analysis. Additionally, 70 natural resource experts were selected to complete the questionnaire. User samples were randomly selected, while all experts were included (complete counting). Data analysis involved t-tests and analysis of variance.ResultsFrom the users' perspective, the overall good governance index for natural resources averaged 2.8884, less than the theoretical average. This indicates weak governance according to the study area's natural resource users. The lowest average scores were assigned to the rule of law, justice, transparency, and accountability. Experts expressed higher satisfaction levels with all indicators, with the highest scores (3.46 and 3.42) for accountability and responsibility, respectively. Experts identified efficiency and effectiveness as the most crucial factor for good governance, while users prioritized participation.ConclusionThe results reveal that the overall good governance index falls below the theoretical average, suggesting relatively weak governance of natural resources from the stakeholders' perspective in the studied area. This research emphasizes the importance of user involvement in natural resource projects, effective utilization of local knowledge, and strengthening cooperatives to improve the region's natural resource governance.
Seifolhagh Gharavi; Bahareh Behmanesh; Aboulfazl Tahmasebi; Esmaeil Namvar
Volume 30, Issue 2 , September 2023, , Pages 302-317
Abstract
Background and objectives Dealing with rangeland degradation factors and rehabilitating these resources are fundamental and necessary steps toward sustainable development. So, decisions and protection programs can reduce land use change and tenure. In this regard, the present study has excavated ...
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Background and objectives Dealing with rangeland degradation factors and rehabilitating these resources are fundamental and necessary steps toward sustainable development. So, decisions and protection programs can reduce land use change and tenure. In this regard, the present study has excavated and analyzed strategies to prevent land use change and tenure of rangelands from the perspective of experts in Gonbad Kavous city of Golestan province. Methodology:This research is a descriptive-survey type in which the statistical population consists of 45 judges, experts, and conservation guards in the city. Forty individuals were randomly selected as a sample size based on the Krejcie Morgan table. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. Through five focus group interviews, we obtained items related to it. So that after removing the common and unrelated items, 25 items were summarized as protection solutions from the rangelands of the city. Based on that, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed. Each of the specified items was evaluated on a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire validity was assessed using natural resources experts' opinions. The reliability was determined by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient, equal to 0.81. After collecting and analyzing the data, the mean and standard deviation were used to describe and prioritize the items in the SPSS25 software environment. An exploratory factor analysis technique was used to examine the internal correlation and categorize the protection strategies of land use change and rangeland tenure in the form of several strategies and to determine the amount of variance explained by each. After collecting and categorizing the data, descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the SPSS25 software environment. Results According to the results obtained from factor analysis, the values of KMO and Bartlett were respectively equal to 0.806 and 967.830, significant at 99% confidence. This indicated the appropriateness of the variables' correlation in the analysis. Based on this, five strategies were extracted that explained 71.74% of the total variance of the variables. The educational-cultural solution to preventing land use and land tenure change in the study area was ranked the highest, and the legal-control solution was ranked the lowest in importance. The results indicate that the items "culturalization and information in crime prevention" from the educational-cultural strategy, "creating job opportunities, empowerment and alternative sources of income for local communities and pastoralists" from the strategy support-service, "privatization of rangeland and handing it over to qualified pastoralists" from the management solution, "correct implementation of laws by executive organizations" from the legal-control solution and "using the potential of mobilizing local communities and their participation in rangeland conservation" from the collaborative approach, with the highest amount of factor load, had the greatest impact in different protection strategies on preventing rangeland tenure. The sample t-test results showed that the most effective strategy in preventing land use change and rangeland acquisitions was related to educational-cultural, and the least effective was related to participatory. Conclusion According to the research results, the focus is on culture and information using advancing communication technologies and social networks, monitoring and evaluating pastoralists, and creating a control process to neutralize crime in rangelands. This is proposed as the most effective prevention strategy. Developing a two-way comprehensive program, one side of which is related to government support and services, and the other side is related to the mobilization of local communities and their participation in the activities of conservation, restoration, improvement, and fundamental exploitation of rangelands, can be another recommendation to reduce rangelands degradation.
Sina Sarabi; Ali Heshmatpour; Choghi Bayram Komaki; Abolfazl Tahmasebi
Volume 22, Issue 2 , August 2015, , Pages 392-405
Abstract
Analysis of drought and factors affecting it using remote sensing data has a high potential to improve scientific knowledge about the properties of drought and the effects of this phenomenon on vegetation. The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship between satellite indices and the SPI ...
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Analysis of drought and factors affecting it using remote sensing data has a high potential to improve scientific knowledge about the properties of drought and the effects of this phenomenon on vegetation. The present study was aimed to investigate the relationship between satellite indices and the SPI index in northern rangeland of Golestan province. For this purpose, SPI index in one, three, and six month- moving averages was calculated and then zoning maps were prepared using kriging. Then, using MODIS images and the corrections, required for this type of sensor, made on the images, a vegetation map was prepared using the indices of NDVI, SAVI and VCI. In order to synchronize the climate data with satellite images, a 9 -year-old common time base was selected . Finally, in order to investigate the relationship between vegetation indices with the SPI indices correlation coefficient and linear regression were used. The results indicated a good correlation between satellite indices and SPI indices in the peak months of vegetation growth. In addition, correlation between vegetation cover indices and three and six-month moving average in non-growing season, and with a one-month moving average of SPI in growing season was higher.