Rangeland Management in Iran
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RANGELAND MANAGEMENT IN IRAN A SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS AND CASE STUDY OF SEMNAN RANGELANDS Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Fakultät für Forst- und Umweltwissenschaften der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Brsg. vorgelegt von Leili Abolhassani Freiburg im Breisgau, im Februar 2011 Dekan: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus Referent: Prof. Dr. h. c. Gerhard Oesten Korreferent: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schraml Datum der Disputation: 27.06.2011 Acknowledgment I am obliged to thank the people who supported me throughout conducting this research. Initially, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhard Oesten who provided me with the opportunity to accomplish my research at the Institute of Forestry Economics as well as with the financial supports during my hardship and struggles. Secondly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to other members of my thesis committee Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schraml, Prof. Dr. Margaret Shannon and Prof. Dr. Dieter R. Pelz for the insightful comments and thoughtful questions. Special thanks go to Dr. Margaret Shannon who supported me in getting the opportunity to visit the University of British Columbia for two semesters and attending the graduate courses. I would also like to express my sincere thank to Prof. Dr. Louise Fortmann for her encouragement and helping me with writing a part of this dissertation. My special thanks go to Dr. Celine Dutilly Diane from the French Centre of the Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD) for her immeasurable assistance during my research, for sharing her immense knowledge with me and for answering my questions patiently. She supported me from the time the topic flashed in my mind until I accomplished the research. This thesis would never taken shape without her support. I would also like to extend my thanks to her colleges Dr. Samir Moussad, Dr. Henri Dominique Klein and Dr. Johann Huguenin for guiding me in solving some statistical and ecological problems that came out through the analysis. I thank Dr. Sandra Rajmis for editing my writing, and for the sleepless nights we were working together before the deadline. I would like to thank Dr. Abassali Sanadgol at the Research Institute of Forest and Rangeland of Iran who supported me a lot while I was searching for the study area and collecting data afterwards. I also owe a great thank to Ms. Marion Thriesch who helped me with formatting the thesis and was always present to help me. I would like to thank my husband and son who supported me spiritually throughout my life. Many times that I worked on the research belonged to them. Last but not least, special thanks go to other friends and colleagues who directly and indirectly supported me with all aspects and who shared their knowledge with me. Leili Abolhassani, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Table of Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................IV List of Tables..............................................................................................IV List of Abbreviations.................................................................................VI Zusammenfassung................................................................................... VII Summary .................................................................................................. XV A Introduction ...........................................................................................1 1 Definition of rangelands................................................................................ 2 2 The importance of rangelands in Iran......................................................... 2 2.1 Total rangeland area in Iran........................................................... 2 2.2 Economical role of rangelands in Iran .......................................... 3 2.3 Ecological roles of the rangeland .................................................. 8 3 Rangeland degradation................................................................................. 9 4 Range management plans (RMP) as management tools for adjustment ................................................................................................... 10 5 Problem Statement and Research Questions............................................ 11 B Rangeland Management in Iran - a Socio-economic Analysis ........ 13 I Literature Review: Problems of Rangeland Management in Iran................ 14 1 Ecological characteristics of Iranian rangeland....................................... 14 1.1 Geographical and topographical feature of the country .............. 14 1.2 Climate and drought .................................................................... 15 1.3 Classification systems of Iranian Rangelands............................. 17 2 Government’s project in the recent year (after the Islamic Revolution in 1978)...................................................................................... 19 2.1 Overview: historical development of governmental policy ........ 19 2.2 Local Plans.................................................................................. 20 2.3 Grazing License and Range Management Plan (RMP) as National Programs....................................................................... 22 2.4 About RMP’s implementation..................................................... 24 2.5 Grazing License........................................................................... 30 2.6 Local system of rangeland management ..................................... 31 3 Socio-economic factors influencing the transition to the new systems of Rangeland Management........................................................... 33 II Theoretical Framework: Management of Common Pool Resources from a New Instituional Economics Point of View ......................................... 37 1 Aim of the theoretical framework.............................................................. 37 2 About classical and neoclassical theory and management of common-pool resources .............................................................................. 37 2.1 Classical theory - an initial to economical management of common resources ........................................................................... 37 I 2.2 Neoclassical theory and management of common pool resources...................................................................................... 38 3 New Institutional Economics (NIE)............................................................41 3.1 Basics of NIE .............................................................................. 41 3.2 The concept of formal institutions .............................................. 45 3.3 The concept of informal institutions ........................................... 47 3.4 Strategy, norm or rule?................................................................ 51 4 Theories about Rangeland Management...................................................53 4.1 The Diffusion-Adaption-Theory by Rogers................................ 53 4.2 Property Right Theories .............................................................. 54 C Case Study of Semnan Rangeland ......................................................67 I Objectives of the Case Study .............................................................................68 II Basic Information about the Case Study Area ................................................69 1 Selection of the research area .....................................................................69 2 Semnan Province.........................................................................................70 2.1 Basic Information........................................................................ 70 2.2 Land use...................................................................................... 71 2.3 Land use Management ................................................................ 72 3 The two study region within the counties of Semnan and Damghan ......76 3.1 Geographical condition of Damghan and Semnan...................... 76 3.2 Economic situation in Semnan and Damghan............................. 77 3.3 Level of education....................................................................... 86 4 Summary: Similarities and differences in the structure of the two counties............................................................................................87 III Methodology .......................................................................................................88 1 Structure of the empirical research ...........................................................88 2 Methodology for section C IV ‘RMP diffusion in Semnan Province’.......................................................................................................90 3 Methodology for section C V ‘The perspective of intermediary’s regarding RMP'.................................................................91 4 Section C VI ‘Informal institutions in the study area: rules, norms or strategies’ and Section C VII ‘The property in-use regimes’..............93 5 Some critical remarks about problems related to the field study............95 IV Results 1: RMP Diffusion in the study area.....................................................97 1 Objective and theoretical frame .................................................................97 2 Diffusion process of RMP in both counties................................................98 3 Regional