Assessing the Impact of Rangeland Management Projects on Rural Household Livelihoods' Outcomes: A Case of Mahneshan Township

Rangeland conservation and rehabilitation projects have been implemented to protect and revive rangelands in Iran for over three decades. It is essential to evaluate these projects due to the environmental importance of these resources, high dependency of rural households’ livelihoods on them, and government investment for implementing these projects. This research is to examine the impact of rangeland management projects on rural household livelihoods' outcomes using a survey. The data were collected utilizing a structured interview technique and questionnaire from 204 out of 1280 rural livestock holders depended on rangelands, using a multi stage sampling technique in the Mahneshan Township of the Zanjan Province, located in the North West of Iran. The rural areas were divided in two groups based on the implemented or implementing rangeland management projects. The questionnaire was validated in terms of its content validity using the experts' views and construct validity based on convergence validity. The reliability analysis was tested through a pilot study and examining the Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient (0.75-0.95). Implementing these projects has to some extent led to not only increased incomes through selling dry fruits and home-made products, non-agricultural labouring and handicraft