Willingness to participation of local communities in the conservation of national parks

Volume 2, Issue 1
Winter 2017
Pages 69-76

Document Type : CASE STUDY

Authors

Agricultural Economics Department, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran

Abstract
Removing local communities from lands that they have been exploiting for generations without consultation or adequate compensation can result in retaliation and hostile attitudes toward the objectives of the protected areas.Therefore, this study examines the application of willingness to participate of local communities in the conservation of national parks. For the empirical observations, Iran’s Khabr National Park was studied. The required data were collected using questionnaires fulfilling and interviewing with locals and tourists of the Khabr National Park. For analyzing the data, the logit econometric model was applied. Results indicated that 80 percent of them were eager to participate and they wanted the park to be managed by private sectors. Therefore, it is recommended that the government provide a condition where the private sector act and engage people in the conservation of the park. Factors such as a history of participation in previous projects, being Indigenous, lack of management organization, and familiarity with the environment were determined as the factors which affected the participation in this project.

Keywords

Subjects
Amirnejad, H.; AtaeiSalout, K., (2012). Economic Valuation of environmental resources. Avay-e-Masih Publication, sari, Iran. (In Persian)
Hemmati, Z.; Shabiri, M., (2016). Study the status of environmental education in Iran and comparison of it with other countries of the world. Hum. Environ., 37: 61-81 (21 pages).
Lahijanian, N., (2010). Study on Structure and Function of Environmental NGOs and Their Roles in Civil Development Process. J. Sci. Environ. Technol., 12: 101-111 (12 pages).
Salehi, S. (2008). A Study of Factors Underpinning Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors. Ph.D. Dissertation, the University of Leeds, UK.
 

  • Acknowledged that government protection measures, including biological and mechanical controls have not been effectiveness.
  • Solving environmental problems requires the participation of local communities.
  • Social participation is obtained when people gain utility from their partnership.
  • Various factors such as education, age, indigenous status and etc affect people's willingness to participation for conservation the national parks.

  • Receive Date 03 October 2016
  • Revise Date 07 November 2016
  • Accept Date 22 December 2016