Erosion control; Land policy intervention; Opportunities and threats; Soil conservation; Sustainable land management; Forestry; Geography, Planning and Development; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Abstract :
[en] This survey study aimed to explore landholders' perceptions of possible threats and opportunities of the CSLO scheme in the Chehel-Chay watershed located in Golestan province, Iran. Furthermore, the influence of these perceptions on the intention to adopt the scheme was assessed. For this purpose, 345 landholders were selected through multi-stage sampling, and the data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Results showed that most landholders in the study area were well-informed of CSLO threats rather than CSLO opportunities. For those landholders who cultivate in public land, “the seizure of land ownership by the government” was perceived as the most important threat of CSLO. Furthermore, the contribution of CSLO to the soil erosion mitigation and deterioration was found to be the most frequent perceived opportunity to the CSLO scheme. Based on the findings, the importance of uncertain future costs of implementing CSLO in the rapidly changing Minodasht County should not be ignored by policymakers. This study demonstrated the importance of examining both positive and negative perceptions of landholders about the opportunities and threats of the CSLO scheme. The study concluded that land use policymakers should take into account that the implementation of CSLO has positively contributed to landholders’ perception. In other words, the landholders are willing to adopt the scheme. Therefore, policymakers should consider the importance of establishing the landholders’ trust in long-term programs.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy
Author, co-author :
Abdollahzadeh, Gholamhossein; Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
Azadi, Hossein ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Modélisation et développement ; Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Sharifzadeh, Mohammad Sharif; Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
Jahangir, Leila; Department of Agricultural Extension and Education, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
Janečková, Kristina; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Sklenička, Petr; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Tan, Rong; School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Witlox, Frank; Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ; Department of Geography, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia ; College of Civil Aviation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China
Language :
English
Title :
Landholders' perception of conversion of steep lands to orchard schemes: Land use policy implications in North Iran
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