Participatory management in desert ecosystems; Study of cooperation network of public and governmental institutions in mangrove forests (Qeshm Island)

Participatory management in the protection of desert ecosystems is important due to the high sensitivity and fragility of these ecosystems. However, insufficient attention to the position of stakeholders in the social relations network has led to its failure. Therefore, identifying key actors is significant in the participatory management of the desert ecosystems. This study was conducted to investigate the coherence of the cooperation network and determine the key actors of government stakeholders at both levels of government and public institutions considering the participatory management approach. Information and data were collected through surveying, interviews, and participating meetings with representatives of the organizations and local communities. After identifying 45 beneficiary government institutions, a social network analysis questionnaire was developed and completed by 41 members of the local community and 34 members of the governmental institutions. Then, the prepared data were entered into the Microsoft Excel software and were analyzed using the UCINET6.718 software. Two one-dimensional matrices of organization-organization and people-organization were used to delineate the networks; then, different macro and micro indicators of the network such as density, shear points, degree centrality, and betweenness centrality were calculated to interpret the networks. The results showed that density index in both organization-organization (0.672) and people-organization (0.77) cooperation networks were evaluated more than average. So, it is acceptable. Also, the Department of Environmental Protection of Qeshm city has the highest index of betweenness centrality among 45 identified devices in both cooperation networks. Therefore, more cooperation of the organizations involved in participatory management of natural resources is suggested to protect and develop the mangrove forests to reduce each type of environmental pollution.