محسن شرافتمندراد

The knowledge of pioneering management programs will help planners to sustain environment and social system. This article examines the impact of social, economic and environmental management programs on people’s desire to protect ecosystems and stay in villages with emphasized to wellbeing in dry areas of Iran using structural equation model. Data was collected through interviews with 499 people in managed and non-managed villages. The results showed that management significantly affected people’s willingness to protect ecosystems and to stay in the village (p < 0.05) and the environmental management was the most important management plan (p < 0.05). The structural equation modeling showed that subjective and objective well-being has a positive and significant mediating role (p < 0.05) in relation to the impact of management on the sustainability of ecosystems and social systems, which is recommended to be used as an alternative in evaluating the success of management programs. The results can be useful for policy makers and rural planners in order to adopt appropriate measures for the sustainable development of rural communities in dry environments.