Journal of Range and Watershed Managment

Vulnerability Assessment; a Strategy for Sustainable Rangeland Management(Case Study: Lowland Rangelands of Aran-v-Bidgol County, Isfahan)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

valiollah Raufirad 1
Qodratollah Heidari 2
Hossein Azadi 3
Jamshid Ghorbani 4

1 PhD. Student of Range Management, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

3 Faculty Member, Faculty of Geography, Ghent University of Belgium

4 Associate Professor, Faculty of Natural Resources, Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

https://doi.org/10.22059/jrwm.2017.61189
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess socio-economic vulnerability in lowland rangelands of Aran-v-Bidgol County. Accordingly, the most important socio-economic indices were identified using literature review. The sample size was calculated based on Cochran’s formula. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. A panel of experts and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient approved respectively the content validity and reliability of the questionnaire. Me-Bar and Valdez's vulnerability formula was applied to assess the socio-economic vulnerability. Results showed that “presence of experts in rangelands”, “local problems and the collapse of past utilization systems” and “number of rangeland users” were the most important indices of social vulnerability. Findings further indicated that “life expenses of rangeland users”, “number of livestock of rangeland users”, “economic status of rangeland users”, “livestock type” and “increasing prices” are the most important indices of economic vulnerability. The results also identified that more accuracy can be obtained to assess rangelands vulnerability by integrating social and economic factors at local scale. Therefore, policy-makers and rangeland managers and practitioners should pay more attention to socioeconomic factors at local scales to sustainable rangeland management.

Keywords

Socio-economic vulnerability
Local problems
Livestock
Rangeland Users
Sustainable rangeland management
Journal of Range and Watershed Managment
Volume 69, Issue 4
Winter 2017
Pages 877-893

  • Receive Date 04 August 2015
  • Revise Date 05 March 2017
  • Accept Date 27 March 2017
  • Publish Date 19 February 2017

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