Extended Abstract
Introduction: Various factors contribute to public non-participation in watershed management projects. Understanding these inhibiting factors is a fundamental step toward fostering effective public involvement and achieving comprehensive watershed management goals. In this context, prioritizing the indicators and sub-indices that affect non-participation is essential for the cycle of participatory management and proper basin stewardship. Identifying and ranking these factors provides a pathway for implementing measures to remove obstacles to beneficiary participation, thereby encouraging maximum involvement from local residents in planning processes. This study, conducted from 2018 to 2021 in the Kaki watershed of Dashti, Bushehr province, aims to identify, classify, and prioritize these factors based on the perspectives of both watershed residents and experts.
Materials and methods: The research site is located in the Kaki watershed, part of the Kaki district of Dashti city in Bushehr province, southern Iran. After identifying and classifying the specific factors, measurement tools were prepared in the form of pairwise comparison and Likert-scale questionnaires; the validity of these questionnaires was confirmed by a panel of experts. Following the completion of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) questionnaires by 34 experts, the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was used to prioritize the indicators. To prioritize the indicators and sub-indices affecting the lack of sustainable public participation from the perspective of the basin residents, a Likert-scale questionnaire was used. After confirming its validity and reliability, the survey was administered. The sampling unit was a rural household, and Cochran's formula was used to determine the sample size. Based on the total number of households in the villages (814 households), 261 questionnaires were completed by the heads of households.
Results and Discussion: The results of the hierarchical analysis from the experts' perspective showed that the sub-index of "lack of education for basin residents regarding the relevant projects and goals" had the highest relative priority with a mean rank of 4.98, while the sub-index of "delayed effectiveness of watershed management projects" had the lowest relative priority with a mean rank of 0.64. From the perspective of local communities, the sub-index of "ethnic and local differences" had the highest relative priority with a mean rank of 8.77, whereas the sub-index of "non-use of local promoter groups" had the lowest with a mean rank of 4.32.
Conclusion: In the Kaki watershed, the weights obtained from the Fuzzy AHP for expert opinions indicate that design-implementation, economic, social, and finally educational-promotional indicators, in that order, played the greatest role in the lack of public participation. The results of the Friedman test from the local communities' perspective differed slightly, ranking the indicators as social, economic, educational-promotional, and finally design-implementation. Based on these findings, it is recommended to prioritize training courses and classes aimed at increasing the knowledge of local communities about watershed management projects. Furthermore, since local trustees (e.g., elders, educated individuals, members of the Islamic Council, and village teachers) are highly trusted, these groups, along with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), could act as local promoters. They can advocate for project goals and help foster public participation. Additionally, creating conditions for the active involvement of watershed residents in various stages—such as decision-making, design, implementation, maintenance, and repair—is crucial. This could include developing new participatory frameworks for comprehensive watershed management. Providing employment opportunities for local residents in project implementation, for instance through contracts with village councils or by mandating the employment of local labor in contractor agreements, is also recommended.