Towards conserving wetlands: Application of the social identity model of collective action

The purpose of this study was to explore the willingness of farmers to participate in the management and conservation of the wetlands in Iran. Theoretically, our study introduces social identity models of collective action into the discourse of sustainable wetland management for the first time. The study site was Ghara Gheshlagh Wetland one of the important wetlands in northwestern Iran. The present applied research was conducted using a cross-sectional survey. The statistical population was the farming communities around the Ghara Gheshlagh Wetland. A proportionally allocated multi-staged stratified random sampling approach was employed to select 373 farmers as a representative sample. The data collection tool was a closed-ended questionnaire whose validity and reliability were tested and approved. The results indicated that the social identity model of collective action (SIMCA) and the encapsulation model of social identity in collective action (EMSICA) were able to explain 0.45 and 0.40 of the variance changes in the farmers' willingness to participate in the management and conservation of the wetland. This finding reveals that the environmental and wetland policies and management practice require collective determination, formation of collective identity beliefs, and we thinking system. Therefore, the SIMCA can better assist wetland managers, policy-makers, practitioners, and socio-ecological intervenors than the EMSICA because of its emphasis on social identity.