Department of Environment, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran , maliheerfani@uoz.ac.ir
Abstract: (59 Views)
Objective: Livestock grazing in the Hyrcanian forests is one of the oldest forms of traditional land use, practiced within locally defined areas known as customary systems. In contrast, formal forest utilization is conducted through management plans divided into compartments. This study aimed to examine the role of ecological factors in shaping the boundaries defined by local communities (customary systems) and by experts (compartments) in parts of the Nowshahr forests, including the Namkhaneh and Garazbon series.
Methods: The ecological factors analyzed included vegetation type, main and sub-rivers, ridge, ravine, hillsides, and aspect. Boundary maps of customary system and compartment were compared with ecological boundary maps in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Since roads play a determining role in compartment boundaries, their influence was also examined.
Results: Results showed that 90.02% of customary system boundaries aligned with ecological factors, while only 4.5 km did not. Moreover, 81.29 km and 85.2 km of compartment boundaries (equivalent to 90.22% and 94.56%) were determined by ecological factors, respectively, and by the combined effect of ecological factors and roads. In total, 8.81 km of compartment boundaries were not consistent with ecological factors, which decreased to 4.9 km when road influence was considered. Among ecological variables, vegetation type and aspect had the greatest effect on boundary formation. All major rivers contributed to defining boundaries, representing 17% of customary system boundaries and 9% of compartment boundaries. Less than one kilometer of roads did not coincide with compartment boundaries, while about 32% of compartment boundaries overlapped with roads.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that traditional knowledge used in defining customary system is rooted in a deep understanding of structural factors of ecology, whereas expert-designed compartment boundaries also incorporate management and accessibility considerations alongside ecological ones.
Methods: The ecological factors analyzed included vegetation type, main and sub-rivers, ridge, ravine, hillsides, and aspect. Boundary maps of customary system and compartment were compared with ecological boundary maps in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Since roads play a determining role in compartment boundaries, their influence was also examined.
Results: Results showed that 90.02% of customary system boundaries aligned with ecological factors, while only 4.5 km did not. Moreover, 81.29 km and 85.2 km of compartment boundaries (equivalent to 90.22% and 94.56%) were determined by ecological factors, respectively, and by the combined effect of ecological factors and roads. In total, 8.81 km of compartment boundaries were not consistent with ecological factors, which decreased to 4.9 km when road influence was considered. Among ecological variables, vegetation type and aspect had the greatest effect on boundary formation. All major rivers contributed to defining boundaries, representing 17% of customary system boundaries and 9% of compartment boundaries. Less than one kilometer of roads did not coincide with compartment boundaries, while about 32% of compartment boundaries overlapped with roads.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that traditional knowledge used in defining customary system is rooted in a deep understanding of structural factors of ecology, whereas expert-designed compartment boundaries also incorporate management and accessibility considerations alongside ecological ones.
Keywords: Land demarcation systems, Forest governance, Sustainable forest management, human-created ecotones, Social-ecological systems, Tragedy of the commons
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