An investigation on affecting factors on community participation and predicting the community acceptance of the vegetation-based management scenarios for the Hable-rud River Basin

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.