Index-based assessment of stakeholder perception for participatory sustainable soil and water resources in a mountainous landscape

The development and restoration of watersheds to achieve optimal conditions necessitates the involvement of the local community at various stages, including planning, implementation, and maintenance of watershed management projects. Identifying suitable indicators to measure the level of participation of people and stakeholders across these stages can help overcome barriers to participation in soil and water conservation efforts. This study estimates stakeholder participation in watershed management among different occupational groups (farmers, ranchers/farmers, employees/retirees, and others) in a mountainous watershed in Iran, using descriptive-analytical methods and field surveys across several villages in a mountainous region, and from a total of 842 households, Cochran’s formula determined a sample size of 86 households. Participation Indices were calculated for each occupational group. Farmers had the highest Participation Index in all stages, while employees/retirees had the lowest. Participation varied by village from 0.01 to 0.07. Low participation, due to a lack of knowledge about project implementation processes, employing non-native labor, and conflicts between the government and local communities, was lower than expected. Consequently, the overall level of stakeholder participation was lower than expected across various working groups, emphasizing the need for targeted managerial and executive actions and policies to remove barriers to participation throughout the planning processes. This finding emphasizes on the necessity of addressing the identified barriers to enhance local community involvement, and setting tailored strategies and policies to foster more active and informed participation in watershed management initiatives.