Analyzing the Barriers of Participation of Local Communities in Natural Resources Projects to Deal with Dust in Khuzestan Province

AbstractIn the years to come, the extent and severity of dust storms in southwest regions of Iran has been caused by the geographical location and specific climatic conditions. This phenomenon is one of the major environmental hazards in these areas and Khuzestan Province as the main focus of dust every year has incurred a lot of heavy costs. To this end, to deal with dust, But the major problem of this project is the lack of public participation Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of analyzing the barriers of participation of local communities in natural resources projects to deal with dust in Khuzestan province. The statistical population of the study consisted of experts in the field of natural resources and watershed management and agriculture Jihad in Khuzestan province. Data analysis was done by Expert Choice software. Analysis of data based on paired comparisons showed that the most important criterion for examining the barriers to participation is based on the stages of participation in the decision-making phase afterwards, the steps are implemented, shared, and evaluated. In addition to comparing options on the basis of all criteria, the results showed that the most important challenges for local communities' participation in natural resource designs to deal with dust include educational obstacles. Therefore, in order to achieve sustainable participation, educational barriers should be removed, social-cultural barriers, economic barriers, technical and technical barriers in the next ranks.