The Impact of Organizational Networks on Improving the Social Capital of Watershed Management in Carbon Sequestration Project of the Tilabad Watershed in the Province of Golestan

The social capital is based on the relationships of social actors and their communication type within a network. For this reason, the emphasis is on creating a coordinated network between different organizations in order to the successful implementation of development programs. The importance of this issue as a platform for participatory management of watersheds is also emphasized by international organizations. This study investigated the effectiveness of organizational network of the carbon sequestration project in the Tilabad Watershed in promoting the social capital. Using the social network analysis method, 30 organization and institutions related to this project were surveyed in the Azadshahr county of the province of Golestan regards the communication network. The data collection tool was a questionnaire, in which the linkage of information exchange for natural resources management was measured between the concerned organizations before and after the implementation of the carbon sequestration project. Data analysis was performed using the UCINET software, in which the algebra of matrices was used to estimate network parameters and the graph theory was employed to show the relationships. The results indicated that the implementation of the carbon sequestration project led to an increase in organizational network parameters such as size, density, reciprocity, transitivity and closeness centrality. Moreover, the geodesic distance mean and network centralization were decreased. These findings suggest an improvement in the institutional cohesion and an enhancement in the communication network stability. Therefore, the implementation of the carbon sequestration project has reinforced the social capital in the organizations' communication network; thus, it provided better conditions for carrying joint action plans in the Tilabad Watershed.