Environmental Education
Fahimeh Eshghi; Reza Afhami; Afshin Danehkar; Roghayyeh Garmaeepour
Abstract
Because biological diversity and cultural diversity, while independent of one another, reinforce one another and because cultural services are a significant factor in raising the quality of life and human well-being, a correct understanding of all ecosystem services, but especially of cultural services, ...
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Because biological diversity and cultural diversity, while independent of one another, reinforce one another and because cultural services are a significant factor in raising the quality of life and human well-being, a correct understanding of all ecosystem services, but especially of cultural services, is necessary for the protection and sustainable exploitation of natural ecosystems. One of Iran's most significant natural ecosystems is Anzali Lagoon, and through contact with its neighbors, traditions, and lifestyles exclusive to this water body have developed, giving the locals a sense of culture and identity. Aiming to provide a basis for the development of regional culture and, by extension, appreciation and conservation of this natural environment, the present study aims to assess how marginal people of Anzali Wetland perceive its cultural services. Fieldwork and library research were both used for this project. A questionnaire with 109 descriptive statements and a 7-point Likert scale was created based on the categorization of the millennium ecosystem of cultural services and the perceptual territory for each. It was sent to 100 persons from 18 settlements around the wetland. Experts confirmed the questionnaire's validity; Cronbach's alpha revealed the questionnaire's reliability to be 0.99; and inferential analysis was conducted using the sign test. The findings revealed that perceptions of aesthetics and sense of place are highest, of knowledge systems, recreation, and ecotourism are middle, and of the remaining cultural services, perceptions are lowest.
