Shafagh Rastegar; Fatemeh Shafiee
Volume 32, Issue 1 , May 2025, , Pages 71-90
Abstract
Background and ObjectivesEcotourism represents a sustainable income source for rangelands beyond traditional livestock grazing, potentially reducing pressure on these ecosystems by diversifying local livelihoods. While offering economic opportunities and environmental protection benefits, ecotourism ...
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Background and ObjectivesEcotourism represents a sustainable income source for rangelands beyond traditional livestock grazing, potentially reducing pressure on these ecosystems by diversifying local livelihoods. While offering economic opportunities and environmental protection benefits, ecotourism development must balance socioeconomic and ecological considerations. This study evaluates the multidimensional impacts of ecotourism on local communities in Mazandaran province's summer rangelands, focusing on sustainability across economic, social, and environmental dimensions.MethodologyThe study area comprised 120 Range Sites (RS) and 40 villages, with 12 high-tourism RS selected from Paband, Kelia, Sarkh Griveh, Yanesar, and Sankruj villages based on their natural/cultural attractions. Data collection involved validated questionnaires (Cronbach's α = 0.82), interviews, and field observations. The questionnaire assessed nine social, seven economic, and eight environmental impact statements. Statistical analyses included Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, SD), Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality, Friedman test for item ranking, Spearman/Kendall Tau-b tests for correlations, Regression and path analysis (SPSS v26) to model relationships between ecotourism impacts (independent variables) and sustainable livelihoods (dependent variable).ResultsPath analysis revealed that economic factors exerted the strongest direct influence on livelihood sustainability (β=0.385), primarily through income generation (25-30% increases) and seasonal employment creation (15-20 jobs/village), while social factors demonstrated both direct (β=0.106) and indirect economic-mediated effects (β=0.120), significantly improving quality of life (65% of respondents) and cultural preservation. Environmental awareness showed a positive but limited impact (β=0.072), with 55% of locals reporting increased ecological knowledge, though infrastructure development displayed the weakest correlation (r=0.12). Individual characteristics (education, residency) emerged as significant moderators (p<0.01), collectively explaining 69% of livelihood sustainability variance (R²=0.69), whereas ecotourism's effect on migration reduction remained marginal (5% decrease) due to persistent infrastructure gaps (only 30% village adequacy) and awareness deficiencies (40% knowledge gaps).ConclusionWhile ecotourism enhanced socioeconomic conditions (notably incomes and cultural preservation), its potential remains underdeveloped due to:Infrastructure gaps (only 30% of villages had adequate facilities)Limited community awareness (40% lacked ecotourism knowledge)Minimal impact on migration rates (5% reduction observed).Prioritizing infrastructure investment and implementing integrated ecotourism management plans are critical to maximizing benefits.
Ebrahim Atarod; Qodratollah Heydari; Jamshid Ghorbani; Alibeman Mirjalili
Volume 29, Issue 4 , January 2023, , Pages 627-643
Abstract
In the rural society, various factors play a role in the participation of local communities in the conservation of natural resources. Among them stakeholders have the central role as participation plays an important role. Natural resources are considered as one of the main economical sources and their ...
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In the rural society, various factors play a role in the participation of local communities in the conservation of natural resources. Among them stakeholders have the central role as participation plays an important role. Natural resources are considered as one of the main economical sources and their restoration and conservation are considered as the base for human activities for the current and future generations. These factors include social factors, economical factors and cultural factors, which are known as norms. Most experts believe that participation is the main and determining factor in the process of growth and development in developed and developing societies. Therefore, in order to prevent the degradation of rangelands, a comprehensive plan must be designed by various organizations and departments to monitor the exploitation and utilization of rangelands and this depends on the participation of the stakeholders. In order to protect and restore rangelands, organizations must be aware of the norms that affect local collaborative behaviors. The aim of this study is to identify the norms that influence the pastoralists participation and to determine the contribution of each of their components in the conservation of Nodushan rangelands, Yazd province. In this study we assessed the impact of norms including social, economical and cultural factors as independent variables on the amount of pastoralists participation as a dependent variable. The method was descriptive-analytical in the form of a questionnaire based on a five-option Likert scale. The sample size included 104 pastoralists and random sampling. After checking the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, the path analysis method was used to rank the independent variables. The results showed that the social factor with 0.857, the economic factor with 0.633 and the cultural factor with 0.144 had the greatest total impact and also the direct and indirect impact on the pastoralists' participation. The method of exploitation in rangelands, the amount of income of pastoralists, and the awareness and experience of pastoralists had the first priority. Spearman's correlation coefficient between independent variables and pastoralists' participation showed that the social factor and the economical factor have a positive and significant correlation coefficient with the dependent variable of pastoralists' participation. Therefore, it was suggested that the social and economical factors should be considered as the most important indicators of attracting pastoralists participation in planning for restoration of rangelands.
Mohammad Fayaz; Hooshmand Safari; Hasan Yeganeh; Gholam Hosein Rahmani; Hosein Tavakoli; Mohammad Akbarzadeh; Mohammad Ghaytoori; Ahmad Ahmadi
Volume 21, Issue 4 , March 2015, , Pages 731-746
Abstract
Rangelands are one of the major sources of forage production in the country and in addition to its effects on the production of livestock products, a large population is dependent on rangelands because of animal husbandry. Since the government applies management on rangelands through range management ...
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Rangelands are one of the major sources of forage production in the country and in addition to its effects on the production of livestock products, a large population is dependent on rangelands because of animal husbandry. Since the government applies management on rangelands through range management plans, therefore, in this study, direct and indirect effects of management variables on range condition and trend as well as rangeland production were investigated by selecting three range management plans at three levels of successful, moderately successful and unsuccessful in Kerman, Kermanshah, Mazandaran, Khorasan Razavi and West Azarbaijan provinces. Management variables were included as follows: the accuracy of rangeland and livestock data, project compatibility with natural conditions, beneficiaries' conditions, funding and the capabilities of human resources, predicting the executive and beneficiaries' obligations, executive calendar, and active supervisors. According to the results of rank correlation by Spearman, variables of range condition and trend as well as rangeland production had a high rank correlation together.According to the results of path analysis, variables including the accuracy of rangeland data, project compatibility with the capabilities of human resources, predicting the executive obligations, active supervisors, and beneficiaries' obligations were the factors which improved range condition and trend as well as rangeland production. Due to the negative impact of variables including project compatibility with funding, project compatibility with beneficiaries' conditions, and executive calendar on range condition and trend as well as rangeland production, these variables must be revised and their function need be evaluated. In addition, it is emphasized that greater sensitivity is required in planning for the future due to the negative effect of these variables. Other variables had no favorable or negative effect directly; however, they affected range condition and range trend as well as rangeland production indirectly.
Kourosh Behnamfar; Khalil Alemi Saeed
Volume 21, Issue 2 , August 2014, , Pages 260-273
Abstract
Knowledge of digestibility of different plant species and relationship between digestibility and chemical composition of forage is one of the basic requirements in order to qualitative and quantitative management of livestock nutrition in rangelands. This research was aimed to evaluate the changes in ...
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Knowledge of digestibility of different plant species and relationship between digestibility and chemical composition of forage is one of the basic requirements in order to qualitative and quantitative management of livestock nutrition in rangelands. This research was aimed to evaluate the changes in chemical composition of forage during the growth stage and relationship between forage digestibility and forage chemical composition in most important tropical range grasses including Cenchrus ciliaris , Panicum antidotale, Pennisetum divisum and Cymbopogon olivieri. Sampling was replicated every two weeks. Forage quality parameters including CP, WSC, CF, ADF, Ash, and DMD were measure using NIR technique. Results showed that forage quality differed significantly in the studied species and growth stages. According to the obtained results the highest and lowest forage quality was obtained for Cenchrus ciliaris and Pennisetum divisum. The results of correlation between forage quality parameters and growth stages of the studied species showed a significant negative correlation between dry matter digestibility and growth stage progress in the first three species but it was not significant for Cymbopogon olivieri. CP and ash showed a significant negative correlation with the progress of time in all three studied species. However, CF and ADF were positively correlated with the progress of time.