Study of socio-economic impacts of natural resources projects in the rural watersheds of Roshtkhar County from the point of view of the beneficiaries

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Department of Nature engineering and medicinal plants, faculty of Agriculture, University of Torbat Heydarieh.

2 University of Torbat Heydarieh

3 Department of Nature engineering and medicinal plants, faculty of Agriculture, University of Torbat Heydarieh

10.22048/rdsj.2026.535864.2245
Abstract
In this study, the economic and social impacts of the watershed management projects in 6 rural watersheds of Rashtkhar County were evaluated. The socio-economic impacts of natural resource projects were assessed with 60 questions of a Questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS20 software. The results showed that the highest and lowest scores of natural resource users in Rashtkhar on the effects of implementing watershed management projects were related to reducing annual financial losses from floods and reducing the cost of irrigated agriculture production, respectively, with an average of 4.08 and 1.53 and a standard deviation of 0.25 and 1.65.Factors influencing the assessment of the socio-economic impacts of natural resource projects were categorized into six components: welfare, education and awareness, participation and culture building, migration, direct income generation, and indirect benefits. The results showed that the socio-economic impacts of natural resource projects are higher and lower than other components in the components of participation and culture building with an average of 43, and migration with an average of 17, respectively. The correlation between education level and research components is positive and significant at the 1% level. Therefore, with increasing levels of education, the level of components affecting natural resource and watershed management projects such as welfare, education and awareness, participation and culture building, migration frome the village, direct income generation, indirect benefits also increases. The relationship between the level of well-being and the impact of the education and awareness component in natural resource projects with the number of family members showed that large families had a more positive evaluation than small families at a significant level of 1%. These individuals also have a better evaluation of the effects of natural resource projects on direct and indirect income generation compared to small families. In small families, the level of participation and cultural development is more desirable than in large families, and these individuals have a lower tendency to migrate than in large-population families. According to the research results, it is recommended to use the capacities of local communities and stakeholders in the stages of study, location, implementation, and maintenance of plans and projects.

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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 14 June 2026