Investigating the Effect of Carbon Sequestration Project on Local Community Empowerment: A Case of Tilabad Watershed in Golestan Province

Empowerment of local communities is the most integral part of participatory plans in natural resources management. This research aimed to investigate one of natural resources participatory projects entitled Carbon Sequestration Project (CSP) in empowering local communities in Tilabad Watershed region of Azad Shahr county in Golestan province. The study population consisted of 1309 members of 100 small rural credit funds with at least two years of experiences in three villages of Vamanan, Sibchal and Kashidar. Using Krejcie-Morgan table, 298 samples were selected. Data were collected by a questionnaire that its validity and reliability were confirmed by faculty members and Cranach’s alpha coefficient respectively. Results showed that CSP had positive impact on empowerment of local communities. The impact was the highest on psychological dimension whereas impact on economic dimension was the lowest. The results also showed that there were no significant relationships between respondent's personal characteristics and different dimensions of empowerment. Furthermore, impact of this project was more for gardener, members of the cooperatives, recipient of loan and participants in extension education courses.