Journal of Research and Rural Planning Vol.4, No.1 (2015) – S.N.

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Factors Affecting Environmental Awareness of Rural People

(Case Study: Jaghargh Dehestan in Binalud County)
Alireza Khaje Shahkouhi 1- Aliakbar Najafikani2- Zeynab Vesal3

1- Assistant prof., in Geography & Rural Planning, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.
2- Assistant prof., in Geography & Rural Planning, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.
3-MSc. in Geography & Rural Planning, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran.

Received: 26 February 2014 Accepted: 29 November 2014

Extended Abstract 3. METHODOLOGY

1. INTRODUCTION
Today, the villagers' awareness of environmental
issues is regarded as one of the most important
national plans, particularly in developing countries,
which is aimed at achieving sustainable
development of the environment. Thus, this study
seeks to identify and explain the factors affecting
the environmental awareness of villagers living in
the Jaghargh Dehestan in the Binalud County.
Accordingly, the main research questions are
presented: “How much are villagers aware of
environmental issues?” “How much do
socioeconomic features of rural households and
environmental factors in the study area affect the
environmental awareness of villagers?
2. THEATRICAL FRAMEWORK
Environmental strategies in rural planning include
organization of activities and management of the
natural resources with the aim of protecting and
enhancing the environment in the context of
environmental sustainability. Since the rural
environment in many rural areas is faced with
severe threats such as desertification, deforestation,
changes in agricultural land use, reduced
groundwater levels and landslides, among others, it
has stimulated experts and authorities in charge of
rural planning practitioners to pay special attention
to raising the awareness of people in rural areas
about their surrounding environment as one of the
drivers and underlying factors of sustainable rural
development.
Therefore, today the focus of new paradigms in
sustainable rural development is on the important
role of education based on raising the awareness of
rural people as well as the equal accessibility of
these people to information source. In this regard,
the appropriate strategy is to find proper ways of
disseminating information and knowledge among
local people.
*. Corresponding Author: a.shahkoohi@gu.ac.ir Tel: +989111778717
The present study, practical in terms of its purpose,
uses a descriptive, survey-based method of data
collection. The population of study consisted of all
rural households of Jaghargh Dehestan, which
included 1477 households. A sample size of 160
people was selected using Cochran formula. The
self-administered questionnaire was the main
instrument for collecting data and measuring the
study variables.
Data analysis and processing were performed by
SPSS software and descriptive and analytical
statistics methods were used for data analysis.
Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the reliability
of the study, with the result (0.80) demonstrating
the desirable reliability of the questionnaire.
Also, the statistical analyses of the study were
performed by SPSS software and consistent with
the measurement level of variables, the correlation
analysis, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis
and stepwise multiple regression were used.
4. DISCUSSION
The findings suggest that the villagers' awareness
of environmental issues was at a desirable level
(37.2%). Also, there was a significant relationship
between independent variables (social, economic
and environmental factors) and environmental
awareness at a significant level of 99%. Among
social variables, age, partnership and participation
in training courses had the greatest impact on
awareness. Further, among the economic factors,
self-employed people due to the limited contact
with the environment were less aware of the
environmental issues. Also, there was a significant
relationship between the type of cultivation and the
extent of awareness so that there was not a
significant difference between various cultivations.
Moreover, the cultivated acreage, income, savings
and access to production factors contributed
significantly to environmental awareness of
individuals. On the other hand, among the
Journal of Research and Rural Planning Vol.4, No.1 (2015) – S.N.9 28

environmental variables, distance from county and
environmental risks were the most influential
variables. Also, the residents of Dashti Villages
were more aware of environmental issues for a
variety of reasons like extensive interactions,
facilities and environmental potentials compared to
people residing in rural foothills and mountainous
areas.
The results of stepwise regression showed that ten
variables of shape and type of rural area,
environmental potentials, institutional
communication, interaction with others, type of
economic activity, and access to production
factors, type of cultivation, geographical position
and environmental risks had the largest share in
explaining environmental awareness.
5. CONCLUSION
According to the findings, it can be concluded that
the villagers' awareness of environmental issues
was at the desirable level. As for the factors
affecting environmental awareness, it can be stated
that the shape and type of village, environmental
potentials, institutional communication, interaction
with others, type of economic activity, access to
production factors, type of cultivation,
environmental hazards and geographical location
explained a great deal of environmental awareness
in villagers respectively.
Moreover, that four environmental factors
remained in the regression equation suggests the
importance of these factors along other social and
economic factors in explaining and predicting
environmental awareness.
According to the results of the study, the
following suggestions can be presented for
enhancing the existing situation:
1. Doing some groundwork for promoting the
environmental awareness among various groups of
society (women and men) of all ages and all levels
of education, especially those without high school
diploma in order to prevent environmental
degradation and pollution.
2. To enhance the environmental awareness of the
villagers, it is necessary to prepare the grounds for
interaction and participation of local people in
making decisions related to the environment at all
levels, especially with respect to the management,
design, implementation, and evaluation of projects
related to the environment.
3. Given the importance of economic factors like
jobs, income, savings and acreage, etc. on
environmental awareness, it is essential to raise the
awareness of people who have limited contact with
the environment through distributing brochures,
quarterly, etc. aimed at increasing their
environmental knowledge.
4. To increase the environmental awareness of
people residing in remote rural areas, modern
education methods such as distance or mobile
learning should be adopted. Of course, the
realization of this plan required the contribution of
village managers (Dehyari- Council).
Keywords: Environmental awareness, rural areas,
Jaghargh Dehestan.

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How to cite this article:
Khaje Shahkouhi, A. R., Najafikani, A. A. & Vesal, Z. (2015). Factors affecting environmental
awareness of rural people (case study: Jaghargh Dehestan in Binalud County). Journal of
Research & Rural Planning, 4(9), 85-95.
URL http://jrrp.um.ac.ir/index.php/RRP/article/view/32742
ISSN: 2322-2514 eISSN: 2383-2495