Introduction of Participatory Conservation in Iran: Case Study of the Rural Communities’ Perspectives in Khojir National Park
Participatory conservation, as bottom-up management, is currently the most acceptable modelfor management of protected areas across the world. Social context is a central issue in the sustainablemanagement of conservation areas. It is also crucial to introducing participatory conservation. The newapproach therefore recognizes rural communities as key partners in biodiversity management and seeks theirparticipation in social development and biodiversity conservation. This paper examines the opinions andperceptions of local residents towards conservation, ecotourism, and Khojir National Park (KNP) in Iran. Aquestionnaire and informal interviews were conducted in five villages in or around the park. A comparativeanalysis of community participation and its barriers among the villagers were also employed. A model wasdeveloped to study attitudes of the local people and how they affect conservation and ecotourism development.The results revealed a moderate general knowledge about KNP and environmental issues, the lack of interactionbetween local people and government authorities, eagerness to participate in the activities of KNP, generalsupport for the conservation cause, and important differences among the villages. Furthermore, the majorityof respondents were classified as supportive of biodiversity conservation and neutral to ecotourism development,which may indicate a coexistent relationship. The research clearly identifies the need for devising strategiesand initiatives appropriate to specific local groups for optimizing their input in conservational issues. Theoptimization process of participatory conservation in Iran should be undertaken to create a congruent, sitespecificmodel with the best possible results based on world experiences.