Sustainable rangeland management using fuzzy logic: A case study in Southwest Iran

Azadi, Hossein; Berg, Jan van den; Shahvali, Mansoor; Hosseininia, Gholamhossein

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2009.01.017

Cited by 31 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Many range and forest management experts (Azadi et al 2007;2009;Samari et al 2012) in Iran have come to believe that government-based interventions in the Zagros area are ineffective with regard to the human factor. This line of thinking has motivated Iran's forestry directorates to propose participatory methods to approach sustainability in forest management in general, and in the Zagros area in particular.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable forest management in Iran: a factor analysis

et al. 2012

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Since 1996, several Forest Resources Management Plans (FRMPs) have been launched by the Iranian government in order to approach sustainable forest management in the Zagros area in west and south-west Iran. This survey study aimed at providing some policy recommendations in order to launch more successful FRMPs. Using a proportional cluster random sampling method, the data were collected from 208 forestdwellers (beneficiaries) and 90 practitioners. The results showed that the FRMPs are far from being satisfactory. There are several reasons for this failure. First, the financial resources allocated to these plans are being used for other purposes. Second, the inputs and supplies needed for effective forest management interventions are not in place in a 1 Corresponding author. Email: hossein.azadi@ugent.be, Phone: +32 (0)9 264 46 95, Fax: +32 (0)9 264 49 85. 2 timely manner. Third, the forest management in the area is far from being decentralized.Both the beneficiaries and practitioners believe that the forest-dwellers play a weak role in the forest management interventions. Factor analysis revealed that three factors which are influencing the Zagros management effectiveness are "the management capabilities of the forest-dwellers", "the professional capabilities of the practitioners in forest management", and "the public support for the forest-dwellers". Also, the correlation analysis revealed that all the three factors are positively and significantly associated with the success of the government's forestry programs. Accordingly, the main recommendation of this study was to reformulate the forest management policies in the Zagros area by highlighting participatory approaches, not only as a tool, but also as a goal in the FRMPs.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable forest management in Iran: a factor analysis

et al. 2012

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“…Fuzzy set theory was developed by Zade in 1975 [26], and has been successfully applied in many fields of study afterwards [27][28][29][30][31]. The theory may be regarded as an extension of classical set theory, which is based on bi-valued logic; i.e., in or out.…”

Section: Why Using Fuzzy Modeling and Dea Technique?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable and efficient energy consumption of corn production in Southwest Iran: Combination of multi-fuzzy and DEA modeling

Houshyar

Azadi

Almassi

et al. 2012

Energy

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Abstract:The goal of this study was to evaluate the sustainability and efficiency of corn production with regard to energy consumption in the Fars province, Southwest Iran. To reach the goal, fuzzy modeling and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) were employed. The fuzzy model included three sub-models which assessed the sustainability use of energy inputs, i.e. machinery, fuel, fertilizer, chemical, human power, seed, and electricity. Some DEA models like CCR (Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes), BCC (Banker, Charnes and Cooper) and SBM (Slack Based Measure) were applied in assessment of efficiency scores. Using non-hierarchical cluster analysis, 89 farmers were chosen in two clusters including 47 and 42 farmers as the first and second cluster, respectively. The farmers in cluster 2 used 44238.235 MJ/ha energy input which was 2500 MJ/ha more than the first cluster. The fuzzy modeling revealed that the sustainability indices were higher in the first cluster. However, the indices were in the ranges of very low to medium for all the farmers, representing that the current corn production system is not sustainable. Also, the DEA models revealed that the first cluster also held more efficient farmers. Since DEA defines a reference set of efficient for inefficient farmers to follow, lead inefficient farmers to improve their sustainability up to efficient ones. Therefore, efficient and inefficient farmers must change the trends of energy utilization for approaching even more sustainable production.

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“…Indeed, many studies (Fernandez-Gimenez, 2000;Oba and Kotile, 2001;Azadi et al, 2009b;Ho and Azadi, 2010) show that pastoralists have their own special attitudes toward sustainable livestock grazing and potential grazing capacity of individual landscapes that should be appreciated by both scholars and policy makers when taking any actions toward SIRM. While it is imperative to study the attitudes of pastoralists who have the greatest stake in launching a successful SIRM, little considering has been given to fund such studies.…”

Section: Pastoralist Attitudes Toward Sirmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite decades of empirical research, many scholars, decision makers and public are not yet ready to listen to pastoralists (Hesse and Odhiambo, 2006;Azadi et al, 2009b).…”

Section: Pastoralist Attitudes Toward Sirmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable rangeland management: Pastoralists' attitudes toward integrated programs in Iran

Hosseininia¹,

Azadi²,

Zarafshani³

et al. 2013

Journal of Arid Environments

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Abstract:The goal of this survey study was to understand pastoralist attitudes toward sustainable integrated rangeland management (SIRM) in Tehran province, Iran. Using multi-stage stratified random sampling, 1280 pastroralists participated in the study. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. A panel of experts approved the content validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to test the reliability of the questionnaire. Results revealed that most of the pastoralists held a positive attitude toward teamwork and collaborative behavior. Moreover, regression analysis indicated that education level, attitudes toward other pastoralists, teamwork and collaboration with administrative officials, significantly affected pastoralist attitudes toward SIRM.Furthermore, path analysis showed that attitude to other pastoralists indirectly affects attitudes toward SIRM and collaboration with administrative officials. This study concluded that if sustainable rangeland management is a goal, human factors should be considered as a key element.2

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Sustainable rangeland management using fuzzy logic: A case study in Southwest Iran

Cited by 31 publications

References 16 publications

Sustainable forest management in Iran: a factor analysis

Sustainable forest management in Iran: a factor analysis

Sustainable and efficient energy consumption of corn production in Southwest Iran: Combination of multi-fuzzy and DEA modeling

Sustainable rangeland management: Pastoralists' attitudes toward integrated programs in Iran

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