Comparison of Experts and Ranger's Opinions on Prioritizing Barriers in Participation of Rangers in Range Plans (Case Study: Tehran Province- Lar Moor)

There are some barriers for rangers to take part in range plan projects and evaluation. Their participation is very useful for range managers to plan and provide solutions for solving problems. This study aims at comparing barriers of participating from rangers and experts point of view in Lar moor rangelands, Tehran, Iran. In this research, data were collected based on documentation-library and field working. The statistical populations of the study were 410 rangers and 43 experts that arranged based on Cochran formula, 178 rangers and 35 experts had answered the distributed questionnaires. Validity and reliability of questionnaires were assessed by a preliminary test using SPSS software and Cronbach alpha coefficient. The results of Mann-Whitney U test showed that the opinions of two groups on both the effects of legislative initiatives, economic, social-cultural and educational barriers and non-participating rangers in the range projects of Lar moor are the same. But comparing the experts and rangers` opinions on the effects of management factors on non-participating rangers showed that the experst`s view of on the effects of this factor are more agreeable than those of rangers. Also, the results of this test showed that participation rate of rangers in range projects is the same in terms of both ranger and expert groups. Prioritizong results showed that from the viewpoint of rangers, economic, legal, educational, social and cultural barriers have contributed to non-participation of rangers in the range projects. But from the viewpoints of experts, legal, educational, administrative, socio-cultural and economic barriers are the reasons of rangers’ non-participation.