Pastoral community's vulnerability under extreme floodings accelerated by rangeland degradation among Turkmen transhumant, Northern Iran

Abstract

Flood disaster is considered a significant natural hazard due to their devastating effects. The 2019 flood in Northern Iran drastically affected the lives of Indigenous Turkmen pastoralists. This work assesses the vulnerability of the pastoral families living in flood regions. We used the Geographical Information System, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, and semi-structured interviews to analyze the flood vulnerable areas. Initially, we interviewed 20 individuals and then formulated a questionnaire completed by 69 pastoralists in rangelands affected by floods in Golestan province. Result showed that 91% of the participants thought road networks and 76% thought livestock were the most affected components of the rangeland ecosystems in the 2019 flood. Moreover, we found supplementary feeding, watering costs, and forage quantity to be the most affected items in the economy of pastoral families. The main rangeland degrading factors were overgrazing, climate change, drought, and water shortages. The main reasons for overgrazing were the high prices of supplementary feeding, low forage productivity of the rangelands, and financial difficulties of pastoralists. We indicated that pastoral communities in the semi-arid rangeland of Northern Golestan were highly vulnerable to flood. Hence, proper management of rangelands and building pastoral family resilience requires the attention of nature conservationists and management organizations at the national level.

The role of landscape management practices to address natural resource degradation and human vulnerability in Awash River basin, Ethiopia

“…Respondents also mentioned that the clearing of trees and deforestation in the watersheds reduced benefits from forests and forest resources, increasing the vulnerability of poor rural communities. In line with this, studies ( World Bank, 2021 ; Azimi et al, 2022 ) indicated that many of the world's poor people depend on natural resources for their well-being and that natural resources degradation is posing significant risks to resource-dependent communities.…”

Confronting complexity

“…Addison-Atkinson et al (2022) review microbial risks due to sewer flooding, an often neglected indirect flood impact. Azimi et al (2022) show how flood vulnerability is amplified by socio-economical and environmental changes. A key of risk management is to understand social and institutional vulnerabilities (Alves et al, 2022).…”