Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Master of Environmental Planning, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Planning and Design, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
3
Assistant Professor, Department of Resource and Environmental Economics, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22080/jsn.2025.30000.1114
Abstract
Gardens in the city are an important and strategic use, so that they can be considered one of the indicators of the city's development. One of the most important traditional gardens in the country is the Qazvin City Garden, which is approximately a thousand years old and was registered in the list of national monuments of Iran in 2014 and is considered a spiritual and intangible heritage. One of the new challenges for gardeners in recent years, which has increased their desire to change the use of gardens, is the presence of the non-native species of the Persian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus) in this area. The aim of this research is to identify the values and beliefs of gardeners in the Qazvin Garden in order to better manage conflicts and provide necessary strategies to control the problems facing gardeners and also to preserve the biodiversity of the Persian squirrel species. The research method is descriptive-analytical, and according to the number of gardeners, information was collected and analyzed from 120 people using a random sampling method according to the Cochran formula. The findings show that the most cultivated crops in the studied orchards are pistachio and almond trees, which account for 89.3 and 86 percent, respectively, and according to the results obtained, squirrels cause the most damage to these two crops. 96.7 percent of the orchardists stated that squirrels destroy unripe pistachios and almonds before the crop is fully ripe. Due to the considerable damage (220 million Tomans per year on average for each orchard) that squirrels cause to traditional orchards in Qazvin, physical removal is generally done through guard dogs or direct hunting. According to the research findings, it is necessary to seriously prevent the species from entering new habitats by raising awareness among the public and gardeners, and to prevent the change in use of gardens in Qazvin city through solutions such as taking advantage of crop insurance benefits to compensate for damage, as well as practical training for gardeners to learn peaceful methods of dealing with the non-native species of the Iranian squirrel.
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