Browsing by Author "Ghoddousi, Siavash"
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- Role of tourism in local communities’ attitudes toward biodiversity conservation: case study of Golestan National Park, IranPublication . Ghoddousi, Siavash; Pintassilgo, Pedro; Mendes, JulioBiodiversity conservation has a significant role in preserving protected areas (PAs) in Iran. However, biodiversity conservation cannot be efficient without local participation and a positive attitude toward conservation from the local communities. One of the most important tools, which can build the relationship between local communities live at the boundaries of PAs and biodiversity conservation, is tourism. By having benefits from the tourism industry, locals’ negative attitudes against PAs can be minimized. This dissertation addresses the role of tourism in biodiversity conservation in the Golestan National Park (GNP). This is the oldest national park in Iran and is characterized by a large biodiversity. Moreover, from January 2012 to November 2015 during regular visits to GNP and also interviews with accommodation providers and people who have income from tourism, we observed that the benefit from tourism do not distribute well among all locals and do not function as a tool to reduce conflicts between locals and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we looked at the local community’s perspectives over benefits and losses from tourism and their attitudes toward expansion of tourism in the future. The different employment sectors stated contrasting views about losses and benefits from living near the national park. Farmers revealed the highest losses from GNP due to conflict with wildlife. The study results show that tourism is a source of income for most individuals and communities in the three study villages. Moreover, we tested the differences between agriculture and other sectors regarding the benefits from tourism to compensate the GNP losses. Results shows that locals who makes benefits from tourism have less losses as consequence of living near the national park and the locals who do not have benefits from tourism have the most losses as consequence of living near GNP. The perceptions of locals toward tourists in their community were generally positive and they showed willingness to welcome more tourists in their villages. The majority of respondents claim that tourists do not have negative cultural and environmental effects on their community. This dissertation emphasize on the important role of local participation in tourism, in order to improve biodiversity conservation in protected areas. In this research we conclude that the GNP management system should design policies to involve locals in ecotourism in order to decrease conflicts between locals and the GNP.
- The decline of ungulate populations in Iranian protected areas calls for urgent action against poachingPublication . Ghoddousi, Arash; Soofi, Mahmood; Hamidi, Amirhossein Kh.; Ashayeri, Sheyda; Egli, Lukas; Ghoddousi, Siavash; Speicher, Julian; Khorozyan, Igor; Kiabi, Bahram H.; Waltert, MatthiasPoaching is cryptically but rapidly driving many species towards extinction. Knowledge of population trends of exploited species and incentives for poaching is necessary to inform appropriate conservation measures. We estimated the abundance of four ungulate species in Golestan National Park, Iran, the country's oldest protected area, where poaching of ungulates is widespread. We used line transect surveys (186 km), camera trapping (2,777 camera-nights), point counts (64 scans) and dung counts (along 38 km), and compared population estimates with those from earlier records. We also investigated the incentives for poaching, using a semi-structured interview survey. Population estimates for 2011-2014 indicated a 66-89% decline in three ungulate species (bezoar goat Capra aegagrus, red deer Cervus elaphus and urial Ovis vignei) compared to 1970-1978. Only wild boar Sus scrofa showed a population increase (of 58%) during the same period, possibly facilitated by religious restrictions regarding the consumption of this species. The incentives for poaching were categorized (in a non-ordinal manner) as subsistence, pleasure, tradition, trade of wild meat, and conflict with conservation regulations and bodies. The decline in hunted ungulates in this Park appears to be the result of rampant poaching, and a similar trend is evident in other protected areas in the country. We suggest the adoption of participatory conservation strategies, improvement of law enforcement practices and cooperation with international experts to reduce poaching in these protected areas. Taking into account the incentives for poaching, a combination of economic and non-economic strategies should be considered.