Asghar Farajollahi - Ph.D. Graduate student in combat desertification, Faculty of Natural Resources, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Golestan, Iran
Iman Islami - Assistant professor, Rangeland Management Department, Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Mazandaran, Iran
Ebrahim Karimi Sangchini - Assistant Professor, Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Department, Lorestan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Khorramabad, Iran

The aim of this study was to investigate participation of local communities in watershed management projects of Ziarat Watershed in Golestan province of Iran. The statistical population of this study is the residents of the Ziarat region. Based on the Cochran's formula, ۲۳۲ of them were selected by simple and random sampling. The levels of participation and analysis of the correlation between the level of participation of villagers and independent variables were examined. It was also prioritizing the factors affecting the lack of public participation. The results showed that people's participation in watershed management projects is low. Prioritization of reasons for non-participation of stakeholders showed that the three factors including non-compliance of the projects to the needs of the stakeholders, lack of financial incentives and failure of similar projects with an average rating of ۴.۵۴, ۴.۴۶ and ۴.۰۲ have the most importance in lack of willingness of villagers to participate in watershed management projects, respectively.

Watershed projects, local communities, Ziarat Watershed, Public participation