A socio-economic evaluation of a protected area - A case study: Hamadan province, Iran

The aim of this study was to investigate the socio-economic issues of a protected area and participation of the local stakeholders in conservation of the protected area. This study was conducted at 7 villages in Hamedan province in the midwest part of Iran. A questionnaire was used for data collection. Reliability of the data was determined by Cronbach's alpha. In order to investigate the relationship between the average incomes of different villages, a t-statistic test was used. Results indicated that at the 0.05 significance level, there were significant differences between most villages. Furthermore, the results indicated that there was no significant relationship between mean income of Jara and Saadat Abad villages. In order to investigate the interest for the preservation of different villages, a t-statistic test was used. Results indicated that at the 0.05 significance level of, there were significant differences between Shademaneh and Maloosan, Siyah Dare and Gheshlagh Najaf, Shademaneh and Taemeh, Taemeh and Gheshlagh Najaf villages. Results also showed that the Maloosan village has the highest income in the area and willingness to participate in conservation activities was highest at this village. The results of this study show a new approach to the protection of biodiversity of protected areas with connection to economic, biological and humanistic studies.