Investigation of Economic and Social Consequences of Mining and its Effect on Livelihoods Status of Ranchers (Case Study: Ghorveh - Kurdistan Province Rangelands(

Mining in natural ecosystems, including rangelands, has many economic and social consequences, which leads to the degradation of pastures and changes in livelihoods of the inhabitants of the region. The purpose of this study was to investigate the economic and social consequences of extraction of mines and their impact on livelihood of ruminants in Ghorveh city. The number of samples was estimated using the Cochran formula and matching the Krejcy and Morgan tables. The findings of this study indicate that there is a positive and meaningful relationship between the social and economic consequences of extraction of mines with the livelihood of rangers. Also, the results of stepwise regression showed that the variables (economic, social, and livestock effects indicators) explain 64% of the variance in livelihood of rangers. In addition, with regard to beta coefficients, the index of economic consequences of mining operations has the highest share in the subsistence of livelihood.