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Abstract
Forests protect water quality by slowing runoff, stabilizing soils and filtering pollutants.
Conversion of forest land to other uses interrupts these natural processes and increases the
potential for water quality impairment. Since soil erosion and sediment redistribution have
implications for both soil and water resources, and scientists have established that the
movements of soil, sediment and water are intrinsically linked, it is critical to implement
integrated resource protection strategies. It is therefore, encouraging that policy maker and
managers are now opting to manage soil erosion and sediment transfers at a catchment or river
basin scale, as has been proposed in the Eu water framework directive, for example. Excessive
or enhanced soil erosion due to poor land management can result in both on and off-site impacts
that are detrimental to a whole range of receptors. Erosion, transport and sedimentation
processes gain increasingly importance in socio – economical and ecological respect. This study
seeks to survey the role of forest degradation and land use changes in soil erosion and ultimately
sediment transportation by rivers. Based on problem-solving logic, it is possible to drive a five
stage model of policy cycle which is consisting of: agenda setting, policy formulation, decision
making, policy implementation and policy evaluation. The overarching objective of this thesis is
to determine what strategies and policies need to be implemented in order to decrease the
treatments arising from sediment transition into the Caspian Sea. In addition, this study seeks to
examine the relationship between the extent of Hyrcanian forest degradation and the extent of
sediments arising from both degradation and soil erosion which are transported to the Caspian
Sea.