The role of social capital on the participation of ranchers in accomplishing of range management plans according ranchers view

Social capital is a new concept in socio–economical development studies. As human population increased, it is necessary to have people participation for proper use and sustainable conservation and development of natural resources. This study aims to assess the relationship between participation of ranchers in range management plans and social capital. The study was performed in summer ranges of Ballade in the north of Iran on 72 ranches. Ranches were classified according to their history of accomplishing the range management plans. The sampling method was stratified sampling with filling questionnaire. The finding of this study shows that there is a significant relationship between ranchers` participation and social capital and its dimensions including inter-individual confidence, institutional confidence, social security, and interactions among ranchers. Also analysis of variance shows a significant effect of kind of management on social capital of ranchers. Here greater social capital was found in individual ranching and the least social capital was in Council centre.