Sustainable wetland management through bridging the communication gap between conservation projects and local communities

Local community engagement in conservation plays a fundamental role in sustainable management of natural resources. However, environmental conservation programs sometimes fail to effectively address and involve indigenous people. In the case of Gharagheshlagh wetland, bordering Urmia Lake in the northwest of Iran, several conservation projects have been conducted, but their efforts have not led to tangible and long-lasting outcomes. The absence of full integration of the locals seems to be a major reason, and this study examined the causes of this failure. Several factors and criteria that could possibly influence the likely communication gap between the conservation projects and the locals in the study area were identified. The importance of the criteria was evaluated by 380 questionnaires distributed in the community. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using Friedman and T tests. According to the results, the project teams did not communicate with the locals in a satisfactory manner. The respondents did not believe in the efficient performance and honesty of the teams. They believed that the lack of transparency played the most significant role in causing the communication gap. The lack of informing and providing feedback about the findings was the most important external and the respondents’ low perspective on the project teams was the major internal obstacle for a successful communication. Providing feedback mechanisms, continuous presence until achieving tangible results, creating economic incentives for the locals and applying flexible approaches of public involvement were proposed as the necessary measures that conservation projects should take into consideration for filling the communication gap with the local community.