Designing a Pattern of Participatory Management with the Approach of Economic Sustainability in Northern Iran (Case Study: Fereydoon KenarWetland)

Abstract

Wetlands are under increasing pressure from population growth, poverty and economic inequality; social and economic conflicts between local communities; and unsustainable use of plant and animal resources. Agriculture is considered to be one of the important factors affecting wetlands. The overall purpose of this research is to design a participatory management pattern for rice farmers considering the sustainability of Fereydoon Kenar's wetland site in Mazandaran Province, Iran. The entire population are landowners on the wetland site (N = 3249), of which 345 rice farmers were selected as a sample using the Cochran formula. To analyze the data from the questionnaires, SPSS Win19 and Amos Software were used. Based on the farmers' opinions, development of nursery, employment of rice farmers during the second six month of the year after the rice harvest, and tree planting in the main habitats of the birds (Damgahs) in order to exploit their benefits were considered to be the most important indicators of economic sustainability in the Fereydoon Kenar wetland. The results of the path analysis showed that the environmental, structural, educational and policy-making mechanisms had significant effects on the rice farmers' knowledge about participatory management of wetlands. Meanwhile, the structural, educational, and cultural mechanisms, and knowledge about participatory management had significant effects on rice farmers' attitudes towards participatory management in sustainability of the wetland. In addition, the structural mechanisms, knowledge of participatory management in economic sustainability, and attitudes of rice farmers towards participatory sustainable management had a significant and positive effect on the behavior of participatory management.