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.
mohammad ekrami; rasool mahdavi; mazieh rezaei; hassan vagharfard; Jalal Barkhordari
Volume 27, Issue 3 , October 2020, , Pages 577-595
Abstract
Drought can reduce the sustainable production of natural ecosystems, including rangelands. The main purpose of this study was to expand the vulnerability of rangelands drought in the Pishkuh watershed in Yazd province. In the present study, geographical information systems ...
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Drought can reduce the sustainable production of natural ecosystems, including rangelands. The main purpose of this study was to expand the vulnerability of rangelands drought in the Pishkuh watershed in Yazd province. In the present study, geographical information systems and multi-criteria decision-making method (AHP) were used. In this regard, the parameters affecting the drought vulnerability of rangelands of the study area, including slope, slope direction, precipitation, soil texture, and evaporation were extracted and converted into information layers with the help of GIS. After weighing the layers in terms of importance in drought vulnerability in the framework of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), the final combination and drought vulnerability map of the study area was prepared. Also, to control and measure the final map, field studies of the study area were used. Finally, a map of the dominant rangeland vegetation type was prepared and overlapped with the drought vulnerability map of the rangelands of the study area to identify the most resistant and vulnerable rangeland vegetation type. The results showed that the highest weight of the effective parameters in rangeland drought vulnerability was related to the precipitation with a value of 0.54, and the lowest weight was related to the slope with a value of 0.061. Based on the results, the eastern, southeastern, and southern regions of the Pishkuh watershed have the highest rate of rangelands drought vulnerability, and Ar.au-St.ba.Sc.or type is the most vulnerable vegetation type in the study area. It is recommended that more management resources and strategies be implemented in vulnerable rangelands to protect the soil and its vegetation.
Pezhman Roudgarmi; Naser Anssari; Ebrahim Farahani
Volume 18, Issue 1 , May 2011, , Pages 151-171
Abstract
Current events indicate that the country's Natural Resources are being destroyed and with the present utilization approaches, this trend would be continued. A research study was conducted to determine effective socio-economic factors on degradation of Natural Resources in Tehran province. In the current ...
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Current events indicate that the country's Natural Resources are being destroyed and with the present utilization approaches, this trend would be continued. A research study was conducted to determine effective socio-economic factors on degradation of Natural Resources in Tehran province. In the current study, an index was applied to determine the degradation considering forage and forest production. To achieve this goal, data were collected from experts and users of Natural Resources through questionnaires and interviews and relationship between the data and the degradation index was determined. The research was conducted based on the study of documents, archival data, and field works. Range condition of the province was compared during 1955 – 2001 in view of area change. Our results showed that decrement of forage production was higher in mountainous rangelands than that in plain areas (steppe and semi-steppe). In plain areas, land use change of Natural Resources to constructed and agricultural area was identified as the most important destructive factor. Staff and facilities deficiency for Natural Resources control was also known as the most important organizational factor. Based on statistical analysis, there was a strong inverse relationship between the size of posturs’ agricultural areas and the rate of rangeland destruction. According to the results, implementation of land use planning and management is important for Tehran province and land use change of natural resources was identified as an important destructive factor.