The role of social capital on rangeland conservation behavior among Saral region ranchers in Kurdistan province

Rangelands are one of the most important renewable resources that play a vital role in the preservation and sustainability of the environment, water and soil resources, and livelihood security for rural communities. However, overgrazing has led to severe soil erosion on many rangelands in recent years. An important strategy for rangeland conservation, which has received less attention in previous research, is to change rancher behavior in a pro-environmental direction. Therefore, this study focused on determining the factors that influence ranchers' use of rangeland conservation behaviors (RCB) in western Iran. Therefore, this study was conducted with the general aim of the role of social capital on rangeland conservation behavior among ranchers. The study statistical population consisted of all ranchers in the Saral district of Kurdistan province (Western Iran) who were selected through a multistage stratified sampling procedure with appropriate allocation. The main research tool was a questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The results of this study showed that the studied ranchers do not perform rangeland conservation behaviors well and in addition, the results of regression analysis showed that the dimensions of social capital (social norm, social awareness, collective action, social cohesion, social trust) are able Explains 65.2% of rangeland conservation behavior. In this regard, policymakers in this field are suggested to prevent its excessive destruction by forming cooperatives and holding training courses in the field of rangeland protection.