Abstract：
Understanding the position of social capital to coping with deforestation is very important. In this regard, the main goal of this study is to investigate the effect of social capital of rural households on forest conservation behavior (FCB) in Iran. The three specialized goals of this research include (1) the role of social capital of rural people in facilitating forest conservation measures (2) identifying the most effective factors of social capital influencing forest conservation (3) identifying the mechanism of social capital\'s effect on FCB. In this study, questionnaire survey method and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used. The statistical population included all the rural communities inside and on the edge of Arasbaran forests in the northwest of Iran. The results showed that the components of social capital (social trust, social networks and social engagement) can facilitate forest conservation measures and were able to explain 46.3 % of its variance. In addition, the findings indicated that these components affect protective measures through a specific mechanism, which means that they can affect protective behaviors by influencing the cognition of policies and increasing the awareness of rural communities. In general, the results of this research, in addition to improving the existing knowledge, provide new insights for the policy-makers and ultimately help the sustainable management of the forests in this region.
摘要：
了解社会资本在应对森林砍伐中的地位非常重要。在这方面,这项研究的主要目的是调查农村家庭的社会资本对伊朗森林保护行为（FCB）的影响。本研究的三个专门目标包括（1）农村人口的社会资本在促进森林保护措施中的作用（2）确定影响森林保护的社会资本的最有效因素（3）确定社会资本对FCB的影响机制。在这项研究中,采用问卷调查法和结构方程模型(SEM)。统计人口包括伊朗西北部Arasbaran森林内部和边缘的所有农村社区。结果表明，社会资本的组成部分(社会信任、社交网络和社交参与）可以促进森林保护措施，并能够解释其差异的46.3％。此外,研究结果表明，这些组成部分通过特定的机制影响保护措施，这意味着它们可以通过影响政策认知和提高农村社区意识来影响保护行为。总的来说,这项研究的结果，除了改善现有的知识，为决策者提供新的见解，并最终帮助该地区森林的可持续管理。
