1. Introduction
The involvement and active participation of rural communities in watershed management projects provide substantial and wide-ranging benefits. Community participation is a critical component in environmental assessments, policy-making, and strategic planning. Empirical evidence suggests that disregarding the role of local communities in natural resource management results in the marginalization of the primary stakeholders of these resources, thereby undermining the effectiveness of planning, decision-making, and implementation processes.
2. Methods and Material
A sample of 384 people from Suq district was selected as a sample according to the Cochran’s formula. The questionnaires were distributed, and after they were completed, the opinions of experienced experts were used to validate the content. Finally, its reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. The Cronbach’s alpha of the questionnaire was calculated to be 0.80 for economic indicators and 0.78 for social indicators. Then, various socio-economic factors were examined using statistical methods.
3. Results and Discussion
The Friedman test rank average showed that the highest rank average related to the factor of the influence of participation in financing the implementation of the project by natural resource departments was 7.84, which shows the greatest difference among the 12 economic and social factors. Also, the factor of the influence of religious teachings and mosques on the level of participation with an average of 7.02 was recognized in the second ranks. Also, the results of the regression analysis indicated that 81.9 percent of the changes in the participation of local communities can be explained based on social and economic variables.
4. Conclusion
Based on the results, it is recommended that before implementing the projects, the social and economic conditions should be thoroughly analyzed and the existing strengths and weaknesses should be clearly identified. By reinforcing the strengths and addressing the obstacles, it becomes possible to increase local community’s participation in the implementation of the projects. Therefore, environmental degradation and subsequent social issues can be prevented.