دیدگاه روستاییان پیرامون اثرات طرح آبخیزداری چغل در شهرستان کهگیلویه

Introduction and Goal
Watershed management projects are designed and implemented with the aim of managing and protecting water and soil resources. Considering climate change and population growth, these projects can serve as an effective tool in providing safe and sustainable water, promoting agriculture, preserving the environment, and biodiversity. Climate change and population growth have created increasing challenges for managing water and soil resources, managing runoff, and reducing peak flood discharges worldwide. In the meantime, watershed management projects have been considered as an effective solution for sustainable development and comprehensive management of natural resources, especially in rural areas. These projects are implemented with the aim of improving the livelihoods of local communities, protecting water and soil resources, and reducing the effects of natural disasters such as floods and droughts, considering population growth and the increasing need for water and food, and unreasonable exploitation of natural resources. Also, the role of these projects in the development of rural communities requires a precise and quantitative assessment to analyze their performance and effects from various social, environmental and economic aspects. Accordingly, the present study was conducted with the aim of assessing the villagers' views on the social, economic and environmental effects of the Chaghal watershed management project in Kohgiluyeh County.
Materials and Methods
In terms of the hydrological division of Iran, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province is located in a subset of the watersheds of important rivers such as Karoon, Marun and Zohreh. The study area of this study was the area of the Chaghal watershed management project in Kohgiluyeh County, which is located with an area of 5940 hectares in the north and northwest of Kohgiluyeh County, which is part of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province and is one of the branches of the Marun Dam. The residential and agricultural areas of this project include Dorizgan, Kushk and Chaghal. 62.6% of the basin area is covered by medium and poor pastures, with the dominant vegetation type in the astragalus, steppe and semi-steppe, and bromus pastures. In order to prevent land degradation and improve vegetation, several measures have been taken in recent years, including seeding, sowing, and construction of mortar stone structures and gabion mesh dams in the Chaghal watershed. Gabion stone structures (stone mesh) with an operational volume of 900 cubic meters and mortar stone structures with 3000 cubic meters have been implemented in the studied basin. The present study used a sequential exploratory approach as a research strategy; In the first stage, the effects of the plan in the study area were identified using semi-structured interviews with 16 well-known people familiar with the watershed management plan implemented in the village in the study area, and the snowball method was continued until data saturation was reached. Thus, an initial questionnaire consisting of the first part of personal characteristics and the second part of the effects of the watershed management plan in the study area was prepared based on a five-level Likert scale, from greatly decreased (-2) to greatly increased (2+). Then, 100 people were estimated as a sample using simple random sampling, and descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, coefficient of variation) and inferential statistics (exploratory factor analysis and comparison of means) were used in the analysis of the data collected from the questionnaire.
Results and Discussion
The results of the qualitative part of the research led to the identification and analysis of components related to the effects of the watershed management plan in the Chaghal basin, which included 41 concepts derived from the interview. Data analysis in the quantitative part was performed using SPSS software and in order to categorize the concepts obtained and analyze them, exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the effects of the watershed management plan and one-sample t-test. The results of factor analysis showed that eight categories of effects can be extracted and the first factor has the highest contribution of 24.173 and the eighth factor has the lowest contribution of 4.558 in explaining the total variance of the variables and in total they explain 73.54 percent of the variance. The findings also showed that the implementation of this plan has had positive and significant effects on environmental, social and economic indicators. In the social dimension, increasing participation and improving the sense of place are among the most important outcomes and in the environmental dimension, reducing flood damage and increasing tourism are evident.
Conclusion and Suggestions
The results of the study show that the Chaghal watershed project has had positive effects in various social, economic and environmental dimensions. The results of quantitative data analysis indicate that the implementation of the watershed management project has had a positive effect on improving environmental conditions, infrastructure, and social activities and, in general, the feeling of loyalty and dependence on the environment and society. From an economic perspective, increased productivity and improved cultivation patterns have also been significantly confirmed. However, no significant changes were found in terms of discrimination and no significant effect of the watershed management project has been observed on it. According to the findings of this study, suggestions have been made to strengthen and further enhance the efficiency of the Chaghal watershed projects in Kohgiluyeh County, which can contribute to the sustainability of communities covered by watershed management projects. Measures such as developing educational and promotional programs, strengthening local participation, developing tourism infrastructure, identifying and supporting the cultivation of medicinal plants and value-added products, and finally, establishing cooperation between government, non-governmental organizations, and local institutions are necessary to more effectively implement watershed management plans and promote the productivity and sustainability of natural resources.