According to economic correspondence of Fars News Agency, today morning at the workshop of the capacity making of sustainable forest management held at the Homa Hotel in Tehran attended by the UN representative, Khodakaram Jalali said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran with an area surface of 165 million hectares is the 17th largest country in the world. A large part of its territory is located in arid and desert area leading to a fragility of its ecosystem.”

Referring to the average long-term rainfalls in Iran which is one third of that in the world, he pointed out, “We have this amount while the evaporation rate here is three times as much as the global average evaporation. There are 11 out of 13 global climates in Iran due to its geographical location and its heights.”

The Head of the Forestry and Rangeland Organization noted, “Only 8.5% of the country is formed by forests, 51% is covered by rangelands, 19% is desert, and 11% of it is formed from agricultural sector, cities and villages.”

According to Jalali, 14 million hectares of the natural forests in Iran have different qualities which are related to the third period of geology survived from the Ice Age and which are considered the origin of broad- leaved forests in Europe and the natural heritage of the world. Regarding Iran is one of the members of the international community committed to the environmental conventions, we should try our utmost best to protect the country’s forests.”

Referring to the actions taken in this regard, he said, “The expert assessments of the qualitative and quantitative status of forest resources has been made, the prohibition of of commercial and industrial exploitation of Hirkani forests have been exercised, the measures for soil conservation, water supply, and ecotourism have been taken although these measures will create problems from the aspect of employment and the affiliated industries in short run.”

The Head of the Forestry and Rangeland Organization, referring to the latest measures taken for the program of forest rest, said, “62% of the forests having been exploited have been out of operation with an area surface of 580 hectares so far, and all the contracts for the exploitation of wood from the northern forests will have been abolished and managed on the basis of conservation and protection plans by the end of the Iranian Calendar year.”

Pointing to the amendments of rules and regulations for the protection of forests and the prevention from any application change, Jalali said, “Diversifying the financial resources, establishing a national action plan for forests, and using new energies to reduce the consumption of wood are included in the strategies of the Forestry and Rangeland Organization in the 20- year horizon because the more the development of forest planting increases, the better we can protect these resources, while the development of agroforestry  by using fast growing species that are compatible with the conditions of salinity and arid lands can be very effective in this area.”

Also announcing the development of a large scale international project in collaboration of the specialized agencies of the United Nation and FAO, he added, “Despite all the efforts made over the past two decades, the index of the greenhouse gas concentration is steadily increasing because of the unregulated deforestation while forest can play an important role to reduce the effects of this problem.”