Investigating the conflicts between local communities and the natural environment in relation to the protection of biodiversity in Haraaz protected catchment area- Case study: Ab-Ask village.

Reducing “Brown trout” as one of the critical endangered (CR) species in Iran inland rivers, especially the Haraz Protected River, is a common concern among environmentalists and indigenous people. With increasing competitiveness of societies to access natural resources, and also human-made changes, pollution and human manipulation in nature and the possibility of conflicts between Locals, nature and professionals, it was assumed that "overfishing" and "water pollution" were the main reasons for this decrease. This study was designed in public participation method (PRA) to find out the answer to this assumption and also to find possible conflicts between locals and specialists. In this study we tried to examine the reasons of reduction of Brown trout by means of the knowledge of specialists and also the PRA method during ۱۵ field visits to the region and conduct semi-structured interviews with ۵۰ villagers. Data collection was performed by means of problem tree, effectiveness plant, historical course, Transverse cutting map and social map. Due to locals Observation Sand extraction from the riverbed, reduce water discharge and Contaminants enter the water was the main cause of water pollution and declining salmon. Finally, the people ask for Follow the rules for the restaurant waste, construction the septic tank for domestic sewage, observe river area for fish breeding pound and organizing environment workshops for Locals to improve biological and habitat conditions

Keywords:

Participation , Public participation appraisal , Biodiversity , Locals , Brown trout