نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
نویسندگان
1 گروه علوم و مهندسی مرتع، دانشکده منابع طبیعی، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، نور، ایران
2 گروه علوم محیط زیست، دانشکده علوم دریایی و محیطی، دانشگاه مازندران، بابلسر، ایران
3 گروه زیستشناسی دریا، دانشکده علوم دریایی و محیطی، دانشگاه مازندران، بابلسر، ایران
4 گروه علوم محیط زیست، دانشکده منابع طبیعی، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، نور، ایران
چکیده
کلیدواژهها
عنوان مقاله [English]
نویسندگان [English]
Introduction: Public participation as one of the pillars of sustainable development has been the focus of international institutions such as the World Bank and UNDP since the 1970s, especially in developing countries. This new perspective is a response to the failure of centralized development approaches and emphasizes the role of local communities in resource management. Agenda 21 and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda have also highlighted the importance of public participation in environmental governance. In Iran, despite the legal status of environmental protection, challenges such as inappropriate policies, unsustainable exploitation, and lack of attention to the role of local communities have exacerbated environmental crises. In the meantime, the Sorkhrud Wetland, as a sensitive habitat in the north of the country, is of great importance and its protection is not possible without the effective cooperation of fishermen, farmers, and indigenous residents. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the participation of local stakeholders in the protection of this wetland and analyze the impact of these factors in strengthening participatory approaches.
Material and methods: The present study was descriptive-analytical and was conducted in the Sorkhroud region of Mazandaran province. The statistical population included fishermen, farmers, and other residents related to the wetland ecosystem. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data, whose validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha of 0.84. Sampling was carried out using stratified random sampling with a sample size of 350 people. The data were analyzed using statistical tests such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Pearson correlation, and the logit model. Descriptive statistics were also used to analyze the variables of awareness and social norms more accurately.
Results and discussion: The results showed that public participation in the protection of the Sorkhroud wetland is influenced by several factors. Based on descriptive analyses, social norms (mean=3.95) and social capital (mean=3.93) had the highest effect and physical assets (mean=3.15) had the lowest effect on participation. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test showed that the data distribution was normal and the Levene test confirmed the homogeneity of variances. In Pearson correlation analysis, the level of awareness (0.475) and social norms (0.438) had the highest correlation with participation. Also, in the logit model, the variables of income, cultivated area, membership in social institutions, number of household members and trust in protective institutions were significant at the 99% level and had a positive effect on the probability of participation; the highest effect was related to income (0.877) and the lowest effect was related to the number of household members (0.079). These findings confirm the importance of economic and social factors in active public participation. In examining the attitudes of the users, wetland conservation as a source of income and preventing soil and water degradation were prioritized, while less well-known environmental functions such as carbon storage were given the lowest priority. This highlights the need for targeted education based on explaining ecosystem functions. Also, in the social norms dimension, the highest agreement was observed on items such as “the need for people to make decisions in conservation” and “the need for unity to combat illegal hunting”. In contrast, the item “wetland conservation does not benefit the people” had the lowest acceptance. Comparing the results with similar studies in the country also showed that successful participatory conservation models have always been associated with knowledge enhancement, reduced livelihood dependence, and continuous interaction with the local community.
Conclusion: The present study showed that raising awareness, institutionalizing social norms, and strengthening livelihood infrastructure are the main prerequisites for effective participation in the conservation of the Sorkhroud Wetland. Therefore, designing integrated policies centered on environmental education, creating economic incentives, and building trust can provide a suitable platform for the development of participatory conservation.
کلیدواژهها [English]
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