An investigation on the local community's traditional knowledge of Iranian mountain forests using a qualitative assessment

Abstract

Identifying the role and position of local communities in forest management, both in terms of different forms of harvesting and indigenous knowledge, is essential for proper forest planning. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate the role of local communities in the management of mountain forests in the Zagros region of Iran that local communities are the most important factor in forest planning. In forests that have public ownership and simultaneously local communities are highly dependent on forest resources, it is necessary to consider the role of local communities in goal-setting for forest management. Concepts and principles of social or community-based forestry can be used for such situations in forests that have public ownership. In this condition, local communities try to manage the ecosystem with their indigenous knowledge. Accordingly, a traditional system for forest management needs to be formed in these ecosystems. This study examines the evidence of forest management in the Zagros forests of Iran which have mountainous heights with traditional knowledge of local communities. Participatory rural appraisal and interties with critical informants of local communities are applied in this study. Systematic analysis and PEST (Political, Economic, Social, Technological) framework strengthened these methods. Indigenous knowledge of resource management was registered for policy-making in forest management. Results show this indigenous knowledge has the capability of cooperative planning by the forest managers so that local community benefit from the ecosystems with some controls and adjustments in their relationship with the ecosystems, and the sustainability of the ecosystems is also maintained. Setting goals in managing such forests should be subject to both the demands of the public sector and local communities. We conclude appropriate policies to forest resources such as making contracts between forest management and local communities as well as modifying the social demands of local communities towards sustainable resource management in these forests.