Extended Abstract
Introduction: Governmental conservation management of forests and local communities' claim to traditional forest rights and ownership have always been a source of conflict, limiting the sustainable management of forests. As sustainability of production is one of the important goals of forest management and conservation, it is necessary to consider the assessment, conservation, and improvement of quality in forest management. Therefore, identifying the both governmental and public stakeholders and being aware of their points of view and perspectives are inevitable aspects of forest conservation management. In this regard, the present research has analyzed the indicators of conservation management of Hyrcanian forests while identifying its challenges in basin number 86 of Golestan province (one of the 104 basins in Hyrcanian forests).
Materials and methods: The current research is of an applied study that used grounded theory with a qualitative approach. The statistical population in this research were specialized forestry experts in the General Department of Natural Resources and Watershed Management of Golestan province and local communities in four villages of Tuskestan, Qoran-Abad, Taghratepe and Jafarabad in Gorgan County. In-depth semi-structured interview was used as the main tool for collecting data from experts. The interviewees were selected using snowball sampling method and their information was collected through face-to-face interviews. As well as taking notes, all the interviews were recorded for coding, correction and feedback by the interviewees. The criteria for judging when to stop interviewing each person and the number of sampling were based on the theoretical adequacy of the proposed categories. So that theoretical adequacy was achieved by conducting 60 in-depth interviews. Data analysis was conducted in three stages: open, axial, and selective coding. Finally, after calculating the ratio of the repetition of categories to their number in the interviews, the degree of importance and effect of the categories in the conservation management of Hyrcanian forests in the study area was determined and while ranking them, the results in the final template was presented.
Results and Discussion: The results showed that the four categories "uneconomical of livestock farming and lack of other alternative employment opportunities in the village", "lack of involvement of villagers in forest management decisions and preparation of forestry plans", "insufficient support of the government in paying facilities for rural jobs" and "high unemployment rate and lack of income-generating job diversity in villages" were the most important challenges in the conservation management of Hyrcanian forests in the study area, respectively. Based on the final categories and classification made with the final model, according to the calculation of the ratio of repetition of categories to their number, four categories "income and livelihood in villages", "attracting social participation and local communities satisfaction", "illegal exploitation of the forest" and "upstream policymaking " with the highest numerical value were the most important challenges of forest conservation management in the region under the study and "forest conservation manpower", "organizational management and inter-agency coordination" and "security and land use conservation" have respectively been the least important challenges. 
Conclusion: According to the results obtained from the research, the identification of income-generating potentials by villages in different dimensions of industry, agriculture and horticulture, ecotourism and eco-tourism and rewriting forestry plans according to ecological, economic, social and cultural conditions, and following that, targeted investment by providing low-interest facilities for the prosperity and sustainability of rural businesses is one of the most important suggestions of this research. Therefore, the necessity of holding skill-oriented courses and classes with the aim of creating entrepreneurship in villages will be doubled. Identifying the violators of forest areas by village and planning to employ them in mines and factories and providing employment permits in the village based on the ability of individuals are among other recommendations that can be used to bring forest governance to an optimal level.