A Social-Ecological Assessment of Resilience in Eastern Iran’s Medicinal Plant Production

Medicinal plant production in Eastern Iran plays a vital role in local livelihoods and traditional health care but faces increasing pressure from water scarcity and environmental stress. This study evaluates the resilience of social-ecological systems supporting medicinal plant cultivation across four eastern provinces using a structured perception-based Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 400 producers. Composite resilience scores were constructed from standardized ecological, agricultural, and social indicators to enable provincial comparison. Results indicate differentiated resilience patterns: North Khorasan emphasizes connectivity and plant protection, Razavi Khorasan demonstrates comparatively stronger ecological stability, South Khorasan highlights spatial heterogeneity, and Sistan and Baluchestan shows adaptive responses to environmental constraints. These findings reveal region-specific configurations of adaptive capacity rather than uniform resilience performance. The study provides a structured assessment framework to inform provincial-level strategic planning and decision-making in arid and semi-arid contexts while acknowledging the interpretive scope and limitations of perception-based resilience evaluation.