An analysis on the effectiveness of local people's participation in the management and sustainable exploitation of natural resources (Case study of carbon sequestration project of Golestan province - Oghan watershed)

Authors
Yaser Ghasemi Aryan 1
Vahid Jafarian 2
Mohsen Abdolhoseini 2
Firoozeh Moghiminejad 3
Naser Baghestani 4
Ahmad Faramarzi 5
1 Assistant Professor, Desert Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research Education
2 FRWO
3 Ph.D. in Range Science and Research Expert of Natural Disasters Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
4 Golestan general office of natural resources and watershed management
5 Golestan general office of natural resorces and watershed management
10.22034/wmji.2024.2037437.1083
Abstract
Although the scope of duties and the focus of action of the country's natural resources and water management organization are defined mostly with emphasis on the preservation, restoration, development and sustainable exploitation of vital basic resources in national lands, sustainable land management requires integrated planning for all elements. The watershed includes water, soil, plant, animal and human resources in any type of use and any type of ownership (national and exceptions). In the implementation of such principle, people's participation in all stages of project implementation is inevitable. In the last two decades, this issue has been the focus of the projects of the Natural Resources and Westatershed Management Organization of the country, including the international carbon sequestration project. The present research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of the ecological measures of the third phase of the mentioned project in the Oghan watershed of Galikash city in Golestan province. For this purpose, first the digital limits of the activities were determined, and in addition to visiting, field surveys, in-depth interviews with the target local communities and cost-benefit analysis, in order to explain the effectiveness of the activities in the management and sustainable use of water and soil. Action was taken. Among the effective activities in this area are conservation agriculture, creation of model farms, wood cultivation and management of runoff (banking and construction of catchment crescents), forest fire prevention and control, development of new energies. He pointed out the conversion of dry lands prone to water erosion to planting alfalfa, fruit trees and medicinal plants, industrial plants and waste management. In this research, using the available information on the impact of each type of land use on soil protection and carbon sequestration, the effectiveness of the above-mentioned activities was extracted. The results showed that the implementation strategy of the carbon sequestration project in the field of attracting facilitators for capacity building, institution building, education and empowerment of the target local communities had an important role in their participation in improving the cultivation pattern with the aim of water and soil protection. In this regard, the results showed that the measures taken have resulted in soil protection of 786.4 tons and carbon deposition in the amount of 1.39 million tons. Considering the positive effectiveness of the implementation of collaborative management projects on one hand, and the credit, organizational and human resource limitations facing the management of renewable natural resources on the other hand, it is suggested that the strategy of collaborative management be more seriously at the top of the programs. Follow the relevant organization.
Keywords
Sustainable water and soil management
Cost-benefit analysis
Conservation agriculture
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