Carbon Sequestration Projects in Desert Rural Areas and Lands of Iran: Participatory Management of Natural Resources Stabilized among Local Communities

Abstract

Today, the environment and natural resources are exposed to increasingly numerous interests and demands,
which sometimes generate conflicts and the livelihood of millions of rural households worldwide is closely
related to them. The current level of livelihood dependency of local livelihood on environmental income
is reported as high in many developing countries. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) highlight
the links between human well-being, economic advancement, and a stable environment. As mentioned and
discussed in this article, Carbon Sequestration Projects (CSPs) for Community-based Rural Development
and Sustainable Natural Resources Management in Arid and Semi-arid lands of South Khorasan province,
east of Iran, could have a tangible and important role for improving the environment and social conditions,
problems and troubles in this border, frontier, isolated and deprived area of Iran. Advocacy, extension, and
development of the community-based and button-up approach in the field of natural resources management
at the national level must be considered. Objectives of this outcome are to: Introduce the participatory
approach and the methods used by CSP to national and provincial decision makers, train and advocate the
participatory model of natural resources management, form a nationwide working group, incorporate practices
and the community-based approach of CSP into the Iranian National Socio-Economic Development Plan.
Introducing more diverse sets of profitable and less environmentally reliant income-generating activities,
along with the development of a more educated rural population, will stimulate development in rural areas,
alleviating environmental pressure on environmentally fragile ecosystems. CSP mainly addressed ensuring
the sustainability of village development groups. One of the main objectives of CSP is to have the concept
of participatory management of natural resources stabilized among local communities. In this article, the
author discusses and states the most important aspects of CSPs for Community-based Rural Development
and Sustainable Natural Resources Management in Arid and Semi-arid lands in South Khorasan province,
east of Iran.