An investigation on the effectiveness of extension and education programs on the reduction of illegal activities crimes related to natural resources and related factors (Case study: Ardal and Kiar in Chaharmahal-o-Bakhtiari province)

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of extension and educations programs in natural management and related factors. To do so, information on extension and educations programs and criminal records related to natural resources were gathered from 17 villages in Ardal and Kiar counties in a time period of 2004-2010. Soico-economic information was also recorded in a field survey using a proposed questionnaire in order to gather this information from 20 local people whom were randomly selected in each village. Local people who were participated in extension and educations programs also with illegal activities recorded before extension and educations programs were divided into groups of 1- those with recorded illegal activities related to natural resources after passing these programs and 2- those without them after passing these programs. Afterwards, a Wilcoxon test was used so as to reveal any significant difference in the number of illegal activities before and after extension and educations programs. In order to investigate soico-econmoic effects on effectiveness of extension and educations programs, at first, the villages were clustered based on soico-econmoic characteristics. Finally, chi-square test was used to evaluate the relationship between extracted clusters and the numbers of recorded illegal activities in each cluster.
The results showed that there is a significant difference in the numbers of recorded illegal activities before and after the extension and educations programs. The numbers of recorded illegal activities significantly reduced after passing extension and educations programs.  However, reducing in the numbers of illegal activities was not the same in every condition, and individual and socio-economic factors. Facilities and services provided by government had significant effects on success in extension and educations programs. The results indicate that socio-economic factors should be considered when designing and performing extension and educations programs.