The participatory role and place of local councils in natural resources conservation

The appropriate management and protection of natural resources are important issues in present age. Therefore, design and explanations of appropriate institutions and organizational structures is one of the challenges for many countries. This article attempts to answer this challenge by introducing the use of local councils. In this regard, with introducing the successful experiences of local councils in natural resource management, the Rural Islamic Councils has been considered as local organization which can be used in forming a suitable organizational structure. For more investigation a survey research was done. The studied population was consisted of members of Rural Islamic Councils (RICs) in protected areas of Fars province. Through stratified random sampling 104 members of RICs in 52 villages were chosen as sample. Needed information was gathered using a questionnaire which developed based on research questions. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics. Results showed a lot of acceptability of RICs decisions among rural people and there is a great hope for participation of the RICs in natural resources conservation. This paper introduces the necessary measures and appropriate extension approaches for participation of the RICs in natural resources conservation.