Journal of Natural Environment

Investigating changes in the vegetation cover of Marghsar and Yurdeh Ghidar rangeland in Ghoshkhaneh Lar basin, under the nomadic organizations management system

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

2 Research Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Tehran, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/jne.2024.379690.2699

Abstract

With the changes made in the management of nomadic rangelands, it is accompanied by the interference of the government and nomads to prepare a new migration calendar. With considering the limitations in the government system, the issue of feasibility of reassigning this responsibility to the nomads and providing the ground for their role-playing in rangeland management has been proposed as one of the ways to leave the inappropriate and inefficient situation of the current management system. Therefore, the Nomadic Affairs Organization, the Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Organization, Research Institute of Forests and Range lands; considered to interfere to this issue as a logical item based on the research findings. After several meetings, the summer range lands of Marghsar and Yourdeh Gheidar Lar in Tehran province was selected as a pilot to assess the impact of nomadic management on vegetation condition in this area. For this purpose, representatives of the nomads introduced and implemented the project in the form of a memorandum of understanding between the aforementioned organizations and the representatives of the nomads. The study stages of the project started in the form of defined management for 4 years from 2014.The annual evaluation of the indicators was done from the second year in each vegetation type, using 20 plots of four square meters along two transects of 150 meters. In each transect, the number of 10 plots was randomly and systematically established. The results showed that the nomads of this system comply with the move calendar announced by the implementation department and comply with the stocking rate based on the grazing license. The nomads, with the support of nomadic affairs management have been able to reduce the amount of grazing. So the percentage of vegetation cover before grazing, fodder production, vegetation covers after grazing, residual production and capacity of Marghsar and Yurdeh Gheidar rangeland, in the last two years of implementation increased and the percentage of exploitation also decreased(from 94.2% in the first year to 92.2% in the last year). Therefore, the relative improvement of the cover conditions and the beginning of the decreasing process of rangelands exploitation can be related to the family utilization system as well as the presence of environmental protection guards in the region. Hence, it seems that this model can be generalized in the management of rangelands in other similar areas, provided that the relevant government bodies, cooperate with nomadic representatives.

Keywords

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Journal of Natural Environment
Volume 77, Issue 3
December 2024
Pages 441-452