The effect of Nomad management on the plant biodiversity in rangelands of Tehran province, Iran

With the changes made in the management of nomadic rangelands, it is accompanied by the interference of the government and nomads to prepare a new migration calendar. With considering the limitations in the government system, the issue of feasibility of reassigning this responsibility to the nomads and providing the ground for their role-playing in rangeland management has been proposed as one of the ways to leave the inappropriate and inefficient situation of the current management system. Therefore, the Nomadic Affairs Organization, the Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Organization, Research Institute of Forests and Range lands of Iran; considered to interfere to this issue as a logical item based on the research findings. After several meetings, the summer rangelands of Dahaneh Sangheh, Dahaneh Chehel Bareh, Kamar dasht Vasat and Marghsar Lar in Tehran province were selected as a pilot to assess the impact of nomadic management and organization support on vegetation changes in this area. The evaluated indicators were range lands capacity, range lands condition, trend and utilization percentage in two stages before entering and after the leaving the nomads from the range lands. For this purpose, representatives of the nomad were introduced. The study began in 2016 for 4 years. The results of analysis of variance showed significant effect of the year on the percentage of vegetation after grazing and production residue. Besides, the comparison of the average data showed that most of the indicators made changes leading to improve vegetation conditions. The main reason for their success was related to the family management system and the presence of environmental and natural resources protection officers in the region. To sum up, it seems that this model can be generalized in rangeland management in other similar areas provided that the relevant organizations cooperate with the nomadic representatives.