An empirical model of factors affecting farmers' participation in natural resources conservational programs in Iran
The threats weaved by human to natural resources have impressed all of worlds' assemblies making decisions about environmental schemes. Appearance of challenges in natural resources management presented by governmental organizations signals a new and more comprehensive approach to natural resources management. This management is the responsibility of the system including all of stakeholders, in particular local farmers. In fact, farmers' participation in natural resources conservational programs (NRCPs) can be a context for making important and active decisions relating to environmental conservation. This study has attempted to response to the question toward which factors affecting farmers' participation in NRCPs. The data collected for this study were derived through a stratified random sampling procedure from 308 farmers in Qazvin province, Iran. The multiple regression analysis revealed that factors such as age, family size, distance from Governmental Natural Resources Centers, environmental attitude, and need to extension programs relating to natural resources conservation influence directly on farmers' participation, while factors such as conservational knowledge and behavior influence indirectly on farmers' participation in NRCPs. The paper concludes that factors affecting farmers' participation present information that can be suitable for success of environmental decision making.