Role of participatory management in water health quality of the Anzali International Wetland, Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate water quality and identification, prioritization and network analysis of the stakeholders of the Anzali International Wetland, Iran. In the wetland watershed, a wide range of stakeholders benefit from ecosystem services and, with regard to the activities they carry out, affect the functions of the wetland in the lower part of the watershed. The different stakeholders were identified and categorized according to the different parameters including power, interest, co-stakeholder, and interaction. Finally, the linkage between the stakeholders was investigated using network analysis (Gephi software). To determinate water quality, the content of Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Temperature, Turbidity and Electrical Conductivity (EC) were measured in-situ while number of Fecal Coliform, amount of Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Phosphate and Nitrate were measured at laboratory in 4 sites from Dec2018 to Feb2020 monthly. The results of the parameters and water quality index indicated relatively high pollution in the watershed. PirBazar station, the most important source of water providing for the wetland, polluted much higher than others. The role of local communities, the participation of stakeholders and their awareness in the protection and rehabilitation of the wetland is very effective. The identification process led to 39 stakeholders categorized into five groups, with government sectors having the highest number of stakeholders. Weighted out degree showed many stakeholders that directly use wetland services such as the local people were placed in low-power categories whose importance was determined by closeness and betweenness criteria. Based on the stakeholders’ attributes in the study, the most important and influential stakeholders can be used by the related managers for decision-making and improving of water health quality.