Explanation of Economic Sustainability Assessment Indices in Pastoral Units of Summer Rangelands: A Case Study of Summer Rangelands of Sahand, Maragheh County of Iran

Nowadays, the economic sustainability is recognized as the vital element in retention of rural and nomadic populations. It is necessary to apply targeted instruments and indices for assessing economic sustainability. This study, carried out in 2014, aimed at preparing and validating the evaluation indices of economic sustainability in rangeland units of Sahand mountainous area. Firstly, 59 economic sustainability assessment indices were formulated and judged through questionnaire forms by academic specialist, administrative experts and local elites. To validate and take a consensus as well as descriptive data, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance was used and then, those indices with mode, median and mean greater than 3, SD less than 1 and CV less than 0.3 were selected, providing consensus of experts, specialist and local elites. In this research, the 30 indices uphold by the experts, specialists and endemic elites were introduced in framework of 8 components which mangers and programmers of natural resources especially rangeland ones could use in evaluation and assessment of economic sustainability of rangeland units.