Payame Noor University Journals of Environmental Education and Sustainable Development 2322-3057 11 3 2023 04 21 Investigating the Impact of Local Communities’ Knowledge on Perceived Biodiversity Loss in the Sorkhabad Protected Area of the Zanjan Province Investigating the Impact of Local Communities’ Knowledge on Perceived Biodiversity Loss in the Sorkhabad Protected Area of the Zanjan Province 21 40 9678 10.30473/ee.2023.63554.2511 FA Parvaneh Safarialamouti PhD Graduate of Agricultural Development, Agricultural Extension, Communication and Rural Development Department, Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Zanjan, Iran Esmail Karamidehkordi Associate Professor of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Agricultural Extension and Education Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran Jaber Aazami Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences Department, Faculty of Science, the University of Zanjan, Iran Journal Article 2022 04 09 Stakeholders’ knowledge is one of the essential elements of biodiversity management. This research assesses local communities’ knowledge and its impact on the perceived biodiversity loss in the Sorkhabad Protected Area of the Zanjan Province using a quantitative (descriptive-correlational) methodology. A sample of 250 out of all rural households dependent on the protected area (N = 5095) was identified using Cochran's formula as the sample size who were selected by a multi-stage random sampling technique. The results showed that the respondents' knowledge about the ecosystem services and the challenges of biodiversity was at high and moderate levels, respectively. The results of regression analysis showed that the variables of knowledge about ecosystem provisioning services, knowledge about the impact of human factors related to unsustainable local community activities on biodiversity, knowledge about the impact of poor community livelihood conditions on biodiversity, knowledge about the impact of factors related to ineffective intervention conditions on biodiversity and knowledge about the impact of natural hazards to biodiversity accounts for 52 percent of the variance of perceived biodiversity loss in the protected areas. Stakeholders’ knowledge is one of the essential elements of biodiversity management. This research assesses local communities’ knowledge and its impact on the perceived biodiversity loss in the Sorkhabad Protected Area of the Zanjan Province using a quantitative (descriptive-correlational) methodology. A sample of 250 out of all rural households dependent on the protected area (N = 5095) was identified using Cochran's formula as the sample size who were selected by a multi-stage random sampling technique. The results showed that the respondents' knowledge about the ecosystem services and the challenges of biodiversity was at high and moderate levels, respectively. The results of regression analysis showed that the variables of knowledge about ecosystem provisioning services, knowledge about the impact of human factors related to unsustainable local community activities on biodiversity, knowledge about the impact of poor community livelihood conditions on biodiversity, knowledge about the impact of factors related to ineffective intervention conditions on biodiversity and knowledge about the impact of natural hazards to biodiversity accounts for 52 percent of the variance of perceived biodiversity loss in the protected areas. https://ee.journals.pnu.ac.ir/article_9678_4bae50c440b83f1b9048e116d2cdfb82.pdf