Rangeland and Watershed Management

Department of rangeland and watershed management, Faculty of Natural Resources and Earth Sciences, University of Kashan began its career in September 2010 as Watershed educational group by admitting students in MA in Watershed management, and in September 2012 developed their admission at different levels and succeeded in obtaining permission to accept MA students in Natural Resources engineering – rangeland and admitted students in watershed engineering and sciences and thus the name rangeland and watershed management department.

Rangeland and Watershed educational group currently has 9 MA students in Rangeland management and 15 MA students in Watershed management and 19 Ph.D. students in Watershed sciences and engineering and has been providing educational and research services to these students.

This educational group has been active using 6 full-time faculty members with associate and assistant professor ranks.

In human being’s life, soil and water has an essential role in the life and social, economic and political stability of societies. The purpose of establishment of this department is to train specialists and effective students in the rangeland management and comprehensive management of watersheds and management and proper utilization of water and soil resources and preventing wind erosion, water flooding in the watershed which cause soil loss and filling reservoirs and advancing sand dunes. Also, due to the increasing demand of protein sources, due to the economic situation and livelihood of the villagers and tribes of the country in direct contact with the pasture, applying the training of specialists is required that the experiences of locals, using modern technology and science proper management in rangelands and addition to principles of sustainable development and conservation of water and soil, increase the efficiency of pasture forage production and other multiple uses of it. Moreover, destructive floods and land erosion due to incorrect utilization of available resources calls for a comprehensive management system and associated with different land uses exist in an area. Therefore, to provide experts and effective students in the listed affairs is required. Education experts also learn to enable management and planning in order to achieve self-sufficiency in Rangeland and Watershed to take actions. Now with regard to the issues raised, Group all your efforts in training of specialists in the field of natural resources, especially the Rangeland and Watershed.

One of the attractions of this discipline is the close relationship with the natural environment during the study, to visit natural areas of mountain, deserts and semi-desert within the province or outside the province is done through visits. Graduates of rangeland and watershed management will learn the principles of soil and water conservation and will be able to manage administration and executive projects in the areas of watershed management, reducing floods and soil erosion.

The group has laboratory facilities for soil and water as well as a geomorphology laboratory with the most advanced laboratory equipment and devices.

Graduates of this group, according to major, will acquire the expertise and skills in one of the areas of watershed management, integrated management of water resources and soil, erosion and sedimentation, eco-hydrology, hydro-climate, management and improvement of rangelands and herbs. But in order to progress in the fields of employment, students, in addition to expertise in the areas of educational theories, should master the necessary expertise in statistics, mathematics, software for GIS and remote sensing techniques as well as gaining experience in field survey and soil, water, and vegetation sampling.

Department of Natural Resources of the provinces, the country's Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization, research institutes, such as Agricultural Research Institutes and Natural Resources, Department of Parks and Green Spaces, Ministry of Energy, universities and consulting engineers’ companies, are among the centers that provided job opportunities for rangeland and Watershed specialists.