An Analysis of the Relationship Between Perceptions of Coastal Communities and CCA Planning
[1]
Davood Mafi-Gholami, Department of Forest Science, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran.
[2]
Akram Nouri-Kamari, Department of Environment, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.
[3]
Eric Zenner, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, The Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, USA.
In recent years, understanding the limits to adaptation planning resulting from behavioral changes of coastal communities has become one of the most significant elements of climate change vulnerability research in the world. In this study, we examined how perceptions of risk, uncertainty, and trust are related to the support for climate change adaptation (CCA) planning in some coastal communities of Iran. This assessment is based on the analysis of a web-based questionnaire. Participants included city planners and engineers, county and borough planners, non-governmental organizations, and heads of the provincial department in Bushehr, Hormozgan, and Sistan va Baluchestan. Ordinal regression and correlation analysis were used to assess which factors related to support for CCA strategies during two stages of planning (i.e., support for development and support for the allocation of human and financial resources). Findings indicate that a higher level of perceived risk in climate scientists significantly increased the odds that participants more strongly supported local-level CCA strategies. Planners reported that the perceived level of uncertainty for social and decision making process were significantly higher than the perceived level of climate- and environment-related uncertainties. Higher levels of perceived uncertainty did not significantly decrease the odds of a higher level of support for adaptation planning (except for decision making processes related to the support allocating human and financial resources to implement adaptation strategies). There were differences in the strength, direction, and significance of correlations within and among the study areas, highlighting the value in understanding how priorities vary regionally and across levels of management/ government.
Risk, Uncertainty, Trust, CCA Planning, Iran
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