Factors Contributing to the Success of Woodmen Cooperatives in the West of Mazandaran Province: Views of Members

The main purpose of this study is to survey the important factors that contribute to the success of forest cooperatives in the west of Mazandaran province. The statistical population consisted of the woodmen cooperative members in the area under study. The research findings showed some of the important factors according to their priority that influence the success of cooperatives: the number of villages under coverage, the collaboration and assistance of the natural resource office with the natural resource cooperative, the level of members know-how, the number of cooperative's staff, people investment, and side activities such as fish farming. The results of factor analysis showed the factors that contribute to the success of forest cooperatives can be grouped into four main factors: benefiting from members contribution in cooperative activities, the level of member's performance, training and monitoring, and social connections. They can explain 70.38% of the total variance.