:: Volume 11, Issue 22 (9-2023) ::
PEC 2023, 11(22): 112-129 Back to browse issues page
Investigating the driving forces affecting forest land-used change in Golestan province based on the opinion of experts and protection forces
Seyed Hossein Amirkhani1 , Mohammad Hadi Moayeri * , Gholamhossein Abdollahzadeh1 , Mohammd Reza Shahraki3
1- Gorgan Basij Square
Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan Basij Square , moayeri@gau.ac.ir
3- Gorgan, Shahid Beheshti St
Abstract:   (828 Views)
Deforestation and land-use changes in the forest are considered as a global crisis that has had a growing and worrying trend. Various factors have a combined effect on land use change and create various consequences. In this regard, the present research was conducted to analyze the influencing factors of forest land use change in Golestan province based on the opinion of experts and conservation forces. The population studied in the current research includes experts, forces of the natural resources protection unit, and forest rangers in Golestan province, of which 100 people were selected as a sample in 10 cities. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, the validity of which was tested using the opinions of natural resources experts. Its reliability was calculated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS25 and Smart PLS3 software. The results showed that two factors of the weaknesses of laws and regulations and their implementation gaps (ρ=0.000, β=0.608 and t=24.110) and organizational and managerial weaknesses (ρ=0.000, β=0.530 and t=15.401) have the strongest positive and significant effect on the change of use of forest areas in Golestan province. The findings indicate that the change of forest use was more affected by illegal exploitation methods with a path coefficient of 0.833 at the 99% confidence level. According to the obtained results, correcting and removing legal contradictions and approving new necessary laws and matching the punishments to the type and amount of crimes committed by the offenders, speeding up and shortening the process of dealing with specialized violations of natural resources, as well as reforming organizational structures and appointing experienced and courageous managers in order to taking the necessary measures to prevent unauthorized exploitation is one of the most important suggestions of the present research in order to reduce the rate of forest land use change.
 
Article number: 8
Keywords: Deforestation, Forest offenders, Conservation forces, Illegal exploitation
Full-Text [PDF 584 kb]   (220 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2022/11/7 | Accepted: 2023/04/21 | Published: 2023/09/22
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