kianfar payamani; Ebrahim Karimi Sangchini; iraj vayskarami; Mehran Zand
Abstract
IntroductionManaging a pervasive and effective phenomenon such as drought in different sectors of the economy requires close cooperation and careful planning. Lack of strategic drought planning and delays in decision-making have increased costs to reduce drought damage. The aim of this study was to develop ...
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IntroductionManaging a pervasive and effective phenomenon such as drought in different sectors of the economy requires close cooperation and careful planning. Lack of strategic drought planning and delays in decision-making have increased costs to reduce drought damage. The aim of this study was to develop strategic for drought adaptation using the SWOT model in Lorestan Province. Materials and methodsIn this research, the methods of reviewing sources and interviewing with a questionnaire were used in order to provide macro strategies to adapt to drought. For this purpose, the current status of ecological resources, environmental changes, economic sectors and their dependence on water resources, population and employment, management of ecological resources, organizations and institutions were analyzed, then by reviewing the upstream laws and documents, interview with resource managers, local and national decision makers, experts, published background and other available information identified the causes of problems and obstacles to drought management in the province. The statistical sample consisted of 27 experts and scientific and executive experts were selected. Scoring was done on two occasions by experts, and finally, by averaging the opinions of experts and scientific and executive experts, the weight of internal and external factors was determined. In the final stage, in addition to identifying important factors in each of the criteria of strength, weakness, opportunity and threat, necessary management strategies were determined based on the conditions of Lorestan Province through SWOT analysis. These issues were categorized in the form of environmental opportunities and threats and internal strengths and weaknesses, then analyzed by SOWT analysis approach and Delphi method. Results and discussionThe study of strength factors shows that the existence of companies and organizations with resource monitoring units in the province with a weight of 0.25 has a higher effectiveness and degree of importance among other factors. Lack of proper planning and organization for monitoring and evaluation of drought weighing 0.33 has a very high effectiveness among the factors of poor adaptation to drought in the province. Among the opportunities, the factor of technological advances in the field of precision agriculture with a weight of 0.1 have a very high effectiveness. The factor of endangering the livelihood of farmers in case of drought is the most effective among the studied factors of threats with a weight of 0.22. Factors of irrigation of lands in some areas with polluted water and gradual destruction of agricultural soil and population increase and as a result increase in demand for water with a weight of 0.02 were recognized as having the least effectiveness among the threats of drought adaptation in Lorestan Province. ConclusionAfter scoring using the Delphi method, it was found that the presence of faculties and centers of agricultural education and natural resources in Lorestan Province was recognized as the most important strength. But despite this strong point in the province, unfortunately, the lack or inappropriateness of available data and information for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating the effects of drought is known as the main weakness. According to these results, in the direction of the conservative strategy, the strategy of balancing aquifers with the priority of aquifers with a negative water balance was suggested. The government's support for water harvesting projects at the level of cities and villages and the monitoring of better water management in cities provide suitable opportunities to improve the ability of farmers to deal with the negative effects of drought. The final result has been the presentation of drought coping strategies for different regions of the province in the areas of surface and groundwater supply, irrigated and rainfed agriculture, urban and rural drinking water and river water environment.
Ebrahim Karimi Sangchini
Abstract
Introduction
Evaluating the implemented watershed projects and providing a perspective of their performance results provide managers and decision-makers with appropriate information for long-term planning. Therefore, by evaluating the performance of watershed projects from the perspective of experts, ...
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Introduction
Evaluating the implemented watershed projects and providing a perspective of their performance results provide managers and decision-makers with appropriate information for long-term planning. Therefore, by evaluating the performance of watershed projects from the perspective of experts, while determining the effects of the project and the factors affecting, the necessary guidelines for the optimal implementation of these projects in the future can be provided to officials and planners. In this research, in order to evaluate the implemented watershed management projects in terms of improving the spirit of public participation in the Rimeleh Watershed, the point of view of experts and users was used.
Materials and methods
Rimleh Watershed is one of the sub-basins of Kashkan River. For this purpose, after preparing the initial list of indicators, using the Delphi method and polling experts, the final list of indicators effective in improving the spirit of public participation was determined. 39 indicators were selected and classified into 6 categories. Finally, in order to prioritize the indicators, multi-indicator decision-making methods were used. All heads of rural households in this watershed were selected as the statistical population. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were tested. According to Cochran's relationship and proportional assignment sampling method, 135 watershed dwellers were referred from the watershed dweller community. Face-to-face interviews and questionnaires were used to collect users' opinions. Friedman's test was used to rank the factors affecting people's participation from the point of view of beneficiaries. In order to evaluate from the point of view of experts, a pairwise comparison questionnaire was designed and distributed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method.
Results and discussion
Cronbach's alpha was calculated equal to 0.827 and showed the reliability of the questionnaires in the research. The compatibility rate in hierarchical analysis is less than 0.01, so the compatibility of the comparisons can be accepted. The results show that the activities of cooperative actions such as gardening, terracing, construction of concrete streams, construction of swimming pools and dredging of fountains took the most human and financial participation (about 76%). Examining indicators of participation of watershed residents in future projects showed that "increasing the level of income due to the implementation of the project in the region" (ranked 19.5) was chosen as the best indicator from the users' point of view. According to experts, the index "participation rate of watershed residents in decision-making" (with a weighted average of 0.252) was selected as the best index. The indicators of "increasing the participation of watershed residents in decision-making" and "using the capacity of other institutions in the implementation of conservation projects and attracting their participation" received the most weight, and the indicator "strengthening the participation of organizations such as cooperatives at the village level" received the least weight.
Conclusion
The results of this research show that the beneficiaries of Rimeleh Watershed have a high capacity to accept and participate in watershed management projects. It is suggested that the participation of stakeholders in future decisions and the use of participatory measures in this watershed and other watersheds are of importance. Therefore, the approach used in this research can be used as an effective method to help better understand the watershed system and also facilitate the decision-making process by watershed planners and managers and watershed stockholders. In order to evaluate the implementation of watershed projects on improving the spirit of public participation, it seems necessary to pay attention to the mentioned priorities and it is suggested to be placed on the agenda of managers and planners.
Ebrahim Karimi Sangchini; Majid Ownegh; Amir Sadoddin; Nasser Tahmasebipuor; Hossein Rezaee
Abstract
This article describes a research aiming to investigate factors affecting community participation and to predict community acceptance of vegetation-based management scenarios in the Hable-rud River Basin. The Hable-rud River Basin which is a transboundary basin is extended between Tehran and Semnan provinces ...
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This article describes a research aiming to investigate factors affecting community participation and to predict community acceptance of vegetation-based management scenarios in the Hable-rud River Basin. The Hable-rud River Basin which is a transboundary basin is extended between Tehran and Semnan provinces in Iran. In this research, vegetative management scenarios include: the current condition, terracing, saxaul plantation, riparian restoration, forage growing, bunch seeding, contour furrowing, tree plantation, grazing exclusion, seeding, drill seeding, orchard development, and agroforestry. Through an interview with the stakeholders of the basin, a predefined questionnaire was completed for each respondent separately. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were tested. On the basis of Cochran formula, 379 respondents were chosen in a stratified sampling scheme among the local communities of the basin. The factors influencing people's participation in various districts of the basin were investigated. The community acceptance level of watershed management actions was quantified using binomial probability distribution. Financial support policies of the government were identified as the most effective factor in community participation for the study area that attained the highest value in the viewpoint of people living in Sorkhe and Ivanakey districts. Community participation was evaluated in four forms including support by heart, labor support, financial support, and labor and financial support. The analysis indicates that scenarios of agroforestry and orchard development have the highest level of labor and financial support. Central Firoozkooh and Central Damavand districts have maximum labor and financial support level. The results of the binomial distribution analysis show that scenarios of agroforestry and orchard development have highest preferences among the local communities of the Hable-rud river basin. The results of this research can be used by managers and decision makers to promote soil and water resources protection as well as to promote the adoption of management actions at the watershed scale.
Ebrahim Karimi Sangchini; Majid Ownegh; Amir Sadoddin; Nasser Tahmasebi Pur; Hossein Rezaee
Abstract
This paper describes the utilization of a system dynamics model to predict the effects of vegetation-based management scenarios on structural landscape ecology in the Hablehrud River Basin. The river basin covers an area between Tehran and Semnan provinces. In this research, vegetative management scenarios ...
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This paper describes the utilization of a system dynamics model to predict the effects of vegetation-based management scenarios on structural landscape ecology in the Hablehrud River Basin. The river basin covers an area between Tehran and Semnan provinces. In this research, vegetative management scenarios include: the current condition, terracing, saxaul plantation, riparian restoration, forage growing, bunch seeding, contour furrowing, tree plantation, grazing exclusion, seeding, drill seeding, orchard development, and agroforestry. In order to predict the effects, Weighted Mean Patch Size index (WMPSI), Weighted Land Cover Area Index (WLCAI) and Riparian Proportion Index (RPI) were quantified. Additionally, the model uncertainty analysis was conducted using bootstrap method. Ecological impacts of the scenarios using aforementioned indices were predicted and the best scenarios were chosen using system dynamics. Results suggest that considering WMPSI, tree plantation and riparian restoration scenarios are the preferred scenarios. Seeding and orchard development scenarios were considered to be the best scenarios based on WLCAI. Moreover, riparian restoration and saxaul plantation were chosen as the best scenarios considering RPI. Seeding and riparian restoration scenarios obtained the highest priority considering the combination of the indices. WLCAI and RPI have the minimum and maximum uncertainty levels with respect to coefficient of variation as 0.28 and 0.45, respectively. The system dynamics models are capable of predicting the effects of various management scenarios providing the information required for decision making and management at watershed scales.
