The Role of Forest Products in the Livelihoods of the Local Communities of North Zagros Forests (Study: Kurdistan and West Azarbaijan Provinces)

Forest utilization is one of the important components of get income and decrease of poverty for local communities. Zagros as the widest forests area in country, in terms of commercial non-wood forest products are unique. The amount of income from these forest products varies, and in each region a specific type of product is the important source of income. The purpose of this study was to determine the percentage of forest income in annual household’s income and determine which forest products constitute the annual net income of a household and what kind of product is the most source of income in each region are from. For this purpose, various utilizations and the share of forest products in the lives of the northern Zagros households (Marivan, Baneh and Saravabad cities in Kurdistan province and Piranshahr and Sardasht in West Azarbaijan province) were investigated. The gathering of Gazu, Mazooj, oak seed, Gala (grazing), galipot of Pistacia sp., firewood and food-medicine plants were among the most commonly used forest products in the region. The data of this study included income and cost of different sources by direct observation, semi-structured questionnaire and interviews with 220 households of the utilizer. Livelihoods sources of utilizers were analyzed in three groups of forest products, husbandry and others. The results showed that the livelihoods of the utilizers of the region, forest products, husbandry and others, respectively, were 15.12%, 22.75% and 62.13%. The annual profit from forest products in Marivan and Sarvabad was more than the annual profit from livestock, while in Piranshahr, forest resources did not have significant profits. Also, the highest net annual income of the forest in the cities of Marivan, Sarvaabad, Baneh, Sardasht and Piranshahr was respectively galipot, galipot, Gala (grazing), galipot and forest food products. Considering that each of the cities is better in producing one or two products. It was suggested that planning for the sustainability of resources (including determining the possibility of harvesting), improving the mechanisms of utilization, processing and marketing of the important products of each city was proposed.