Mahdi Kolahi
@um.ac.ir
Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Water and Environment Research Institute
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Environmental Sociology, Natural resources management, Environmental management
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Mahdi Kolahi, Kamran Davary, and Hamid Omranian Khorasani
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractIran's Mashhad Plain faces a severe water crisis due to the excessive exploitation of groundwater, leading to the depletion of its aquifer. While water demand management is recognized as a superior solution compared to supply projects, its implementation presents notable challenges. This study addresses the urgent necessity to curtail water demand in the Mashhad Plain by alleviating conflicts among various stakeholders, including water resource managers and consumers. Initially, the research identifies key water resource actors who collaborate in devising a comprehensive roadmap and conceptual model for efficient water resource management. An analysis uncovers significant conflicts among actors, representing approximately 6% of identified issues, with minor conflicts in 30% of cases. Encouragingly, stakeholders demonstrate potential for consensus on the remaining conflict items, with specific actors emerging as pivotal in conflict resolution. Efficient water resource management in regions facing scarcity, diverse interests, and sustainability challenges demands a multifaceted strategy. Future endeavors involve developing a dynamic system model to simulate policy impacts and strengthen conflict resolution efforts. This research introduces a roadmap-driven approach aimed at resolving conflicts and implementing water demand management in the Mashhad Plain. It emphasizes the critical need to address water scarcity challenges while effectively mitigating conflicts among water resource stakeholders.
Mahdi Kolahi and Rogaieh AzimiSeginSara
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Summary Universities are expected to play a pivotal role in promoting environmental conservation goals, yet a comprehensive analysis of their actual contributions remains limited. This study delves into the perceptions of socio-environmental responsibility among faculty members within Iran’s top 13 universities. Using random cluster sampling, we collected 410 questionnaires from these institutions, evaluating socio-environmental responsibility through eight distinct variables. The outcomes unveil widespread deficiencies in responsibility across all universities, with 66% exhibiting low levels of engagement. Notably, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources displays the lowest level, while Bu-Ali Sina University ranks highest. The research variables exhibit significant positive correlations, elucidating the interconnectedness of different aspects of socio-environmental responsibility. Furthermore, the study identifies a significant disparity in mean university socio-environmental responsibility concerning gender, although no significant relationships are found with factors such as professors’ academic rank, employment status or age. Sixteen codes are highlighted based on qualitative analysis. These findings underscore the urgency for universities to redefine their roles within the community and prioritize community empowerment, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and environmental education. By addressing these facets, universities can elevate their levels of socio-environmental responsibility and contribute more effectively to environmental conservation efforts.
Ashkan Ebrahimivand, Farhad Hooshyaripor, Salar Rezaei-Gharehaghaj, Sahand Razi, Mohammad Milad Salamttalab, Mahdi Kolahi, and Roohollah Noori
MDPI AG
Land-use change has a key role in hydrologic processes and biodiversity. Although many satellite-based studies have been conducted to reveal the interaction between land-use changes in hydrological processes worldwide, the land-use change impact on agricultural water consumption in hyper-arid regions is poorly understood. Here, we investigate increased agricultural water consumption in the Qom province, a hyper-arid region in Iran, using derived imageries from Landsat 5 Tm and Landsat 8 OLI during the last three decades. We used maximum likelihood classification (MLC) and decision tree classification (DTC) to analyze the satellite images. The MLC method showed that croplands have increased from 30,547 ha in 1989 to 39,255 ha in 2019 (i.e., a 29% increase). In this period, the total orchard area increased from 3904 ha to 6307 ha, revealing a growth of 61%. In the DTC method, the increases in the cropland and orchard areas were, respectively, 34% and 60%. Although both MLC and DTC satisfied the accuracy criteria, the former was more consistent than the latter concerning ground data and documented statistics. Satellite-based and MLC results showed an increase in agricultural water consumption from 152 million cubic meters (MCM) in 1989 to 209 MCM in 2019, showing a 38% increase (i.e., 1.27% annually). Our findings send an alarming message for policymakers to reduce the water demand through sustainable agricultural practices in the Qom province, where the agricultural sector uses approximately 90% of annual water demand.
Ahmad Reza Pirali Zefrehei, Mahdi Kolahi, and Judith Fisher
Wiley
Azam Amini, Mohammad Abedi, Elnaz Nesari, Ehsan Daryadel, Mahdi Kolahi, Hojjat Mianabadi, and Judith Fisher
SAGE Publications
Article 8 of the Paris Agreement introduces obligations upon the Parties to the Agreement “with respect to Loss and Damage associated with adverse impacts of climate change.” According to Paragraph 52 of the Conference of the Parties’ Decision, Article 8 is not a basis for liability or compensation. Therefore, the problem is whether violation of obligations leads to a state responsibility. Using a dogmatic method, this research contends that “recognizing the significance of averting, minimizing, and addressing Loss and Damage” means acceptance of responsibility for a breach of obligations. Although the means of seeking reparation would not be compensation, States are obliged to eliminate sources of damage and take precautionary measures to address loss and damage. Notwithstanding this, placing the issue of loss and damage under the Agreement into a separate article can reflect to a great extent the significance of the matter.
Ameneh Mianabadi, Kamran Davary, Hojjat Mianabadi, Mahdi Kolahi, and Erik Mostert
Frontiers Media SA
Environmental changes can result in dramatic increases in human migration as households become unable to adapt to such changes. Addressing environmental migration is a complex puzzle that can become a wicked problem. Despite the growing literature on the nexus between environmental change and migration, the inextricable link between nature and society has made it difficult to establish causal relations between the two. To examine the relationship between environmental change and migration, it is necessary to develop a conceptual model that includes environmental changes as potential causes of rural-urban migration (RUM). Such a model should be built on an enhanced understanding of the different factors that stimulate environmentally induced RUM. This paper proposes such a model, focusing on loss of agricultural land, loss of agricultural productivity and the economic repercussions of these losses. The model is based on the model of Perch-Nielsen et al. but extends this model by incorporating additional factors. In our model, the three leading causes of RUM are climate change, human maladaptive activities, and hydro-climatic disasters (the push factors). In addition, there may be pull factors in the cities. RUM may be counteracted or reduced by governmental policy and individuals' characteristics. The model was applied to Iran. The results show that the model can help to bridge the knowledge gap regarding environmentally induced RUM and may inform policymaking on RUM and related issues, such as environmental management and adaptation to climate change.
Mahdi Kolahi, Mohammadali Jannatichenar, Kirsten Davies, and Caitlyn Hoffmann
Informa UK Limited
Ahmadreza Piralizefrehei, Mahdi Kolahi, and Judith Fisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AbstractWater resource management has numerous environmental challenges, especially in aquatic ecosystems such as rivers due to the heterogeneous distribution of surface water resources, among other diverse impacting factors. In Iran (one of the countries of the Middle-East), population growth, development of urban communities and development of agricultural and industrial activities provide additional impacts on the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The United Nations declared the third decade of this century (2021–2030) as the decade of ecosystem restoration. In this study, we have selected the Zayandehroud River as a case study and then evaluated the pathology of existing statuses. Strategies and approaches were studied and analyzed including the need to utilize integrated water resources management (IWRM), approaches for dealing with drought conditions, payment of water rights and dam alternatives, and the need for ecological landscape studies. Then, strategies and approaches appropriate from the perspective of restoration were identified, including the techniques used, and the experiences of different countries. The analysis showed that similar regions of Iran in the Middle-East need to change the paradigm of "nature control" to the paradigm of "nature management" and reduce reliance on structural and technological solutions in water resources management.
Ahmad Reza Pirali Zefrehei, Mahdi Kolahi, and Judith Fisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Ameneh Mianabadi, Kamran Davary, Mahdi Kolahi, and Judith Fisher
Informa UK Limited
Rokhsareh Khashtabeh, Morteza Akbari, Mahdi Kolahi, and Ali Talebanfard
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Desertification control projects are implemented against the desertification process, but to reduce the environmental and socio-economic impacts of this threat, their effectiveness must be evaluated. This study aims to assess these projects in the east of Iran using socio-economic criteria. Rates of migration, education, and participation and also factors of poverty, health, income and livelihood, investment, and employment are used to assess social and economic criteria, respectively. Forty-seven individuals were selected among local elders, facilitators, executive managers, and as well as experts and specialists at relevant organizations and agencies. Data were collected via questionnaires, deep interviews, and direct observation. Furthermore, the Delphi method was applied to rank and prioritize the indicators. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were calculated according to the opinion of the expert community and also using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data were analyzed in SPSS. The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.893 based on Cronbach's alpha. The results of a one-sample t-test showed that the desertification control projects had moderate effectiveness and significantly improved employment and income indicators (p-value = 0.046), while the investment indicator had not changed significantly. According to the result of the Friedman test, the desertification control projects have had moderate effectiveness and have significantly improved the employment and income indicators. Although the investment indicator had not changed significantly, the rate of participation was highly increased, followed by education, migration, employment, health, and income. However, the projects were unable to reduce emigration. Such projects can be more effective if social, economic, and environmental indicators improved in parallel.
B. Sotoudeh Foumani, M. Kolahi, S. Mohammadi Limaei, J. Fisher, and T. Rostami Shahraji
Informa UK Limited
Ava Heidari, Mahdi Kolahi, Narges Behravesh, Mona Ghorbanyon, Fatemeh Ehsanmansh, Nogol Hashemolhosini, and Fahimeh Zanganeh
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
The present study aims to develop the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to explain comprehensively the establishment of intention and behavior toward source separation of waste. The extended TPB involves the significant structures affecting the behavior along with the original variables of TPB model. Data were gathered from 420 students in Ferdowsi University, Iran, using questionnaires, and analyzed by cluster analysis, discriminant analysis and structural equation modelling techniques (SEM). The cluster analysis identified three distinct grouping according to TPB constructs, and it was validated by discriminant analysis. SEM results displays that motivation had the most important impact on intention, followed by moral obligation, perceived behavior control, subjective norm, situational factor and attitude. Fit statistic of the extended TPB model was good and had better explanatory power compared to the original TPB. It describes 81 and 57% of the variance for intention and behavior toward source separation waste, respectively.
Mahdi Kolahi, Saeideh Heydari, Mina Ansari, and Farzaneh Nouraei
Springer International Publishing
Mahdi Kolahi, Tetsuro Sakai, Kazuyuki Moriya, Masatoshi Yoshikawa, and Stanko Trifkovic
IUCN
The highly diverse climate and nature of Iran offer a potential to use ecotourism as a tool to support conservation and local development. To realize this potential, the ecotourism experience must be identified to guide management actions. This paper examines ecotourists’ attitudes towards conservation and evaluates Iran’s national parks (NPs) economically. 2,121 respondents answered an online questionnaire conducted in summer 2012. The majority of respondents had visited at least one of Iran’s 26 NPs. The survey revealed the weak condition of NPs both in status and conservation activities. Almost all respondents were willing to voluntarily participate in projects related to nature, environment and biodiversity conservation; pay for protection; increase the area of protected areas; visit NPs in the future; and they were mostly young. They believed that the conservation of biodiversity is not only the responsibility of the government but also society in general. Furthermore, most answerers highlighted ecotourism activities as a tool to benefit local people. The paper concludes that the government should elevate environmental awareness and consciousness, build community capacity for biodiversity management, resurrect the conservation movement, promote ecotourism and sustainable investment, strengthen the capacity of NGOs, look for synergisms, and build opportunities for participatory, cooperative science and stewardship.
Mahdi Kolahi, Tetsuro Sakai, Kazuyuki Moriya, Majid F. Makhdoum, and Lina Koyama
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
The requirement to assess the management effectiveness (ME) in protected areas (PAs) is increasing around the world to help improve management and accountability. An evaluation of ME for Khojir National Park (KNP), one of the Iran’s oldest PAs, was conducted using a multi-method approach that consisted of structured interviews, open interviews, and site visits. This was the first ME evaluation in Iran. The structured interview was based on the management effectiveness tracking tool methodology. KNP received an average score of 43 %, which is lower than the global average, illustrating that its general management was in the low-intermediate level. The indices of legal status, resource inventory, planning for land and water use, regulations, and objectives received the highest average scores, whereas education and awareness, community co-management, regular work plan, boundary demarcation, visitor facilities, budget sources, staff training, protection systems, and management plan received the lowest ones. The management system of KNP was generally established, but many problems of the management still need to be resolved. To improve ME, some countermeasures should be taken, such as increasing funding, strengthening capacity building, planning, and adaptive management, and implementing community participation.
Mahdi Kolahi, Tetsuro Sakai, Kazuyuki Moriya, and Majid F. Makhdoum
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Since the 1950s, there has been a continuous increase in the number and coverage of protected areas (PAs) in Iran, and in total 253 PAs have been declared that cover 10.12 % of the country’s area. This paper reviews literature addressing Iran’s PAs, examines what is known about them, highlights the challenges and lessons learned, and identifies areas where more research is needed. The PA system in Iran is criticized because of (1) shortages of manpower, equipment, and financial resources; (2) de jure PAs that are often implemented as de facto reserves; (3) lack of national biodiversity indicators and objective monitoring processes; and (4) limited public participation and conflict between people over PAs. To improve, Iran’s PAs system needs to be realistically supported by policies and planning instruments. In addition, the implementation of active management to restore habitat, increase education and awareness, shift practices towards the guidelines of international organizations, build capacity, and improve management and co-management by local communities needs to occur.