In proportion to the country’s land area, the area of forests and green spaces are very small, and many of them have been already destroyed.

Considering that Iran is one of the countries with low vegetation and only seven percent of its total area is covered with forests, the need to increase the country’s green space is very important.

There are two types of forests in the country’s deserts, which include desert forests and man-planted forests, and the Natural Resources Organization plans to plant up to 40 million saplings in these areas.

Man-planted forests of desert areas are a part of the forests of this climate that does not have a natural origin and were created with the aim of stabilizing sinking sands and developing vegetation in desert lands through planting, cuttings, sowing, and seeding.

The main purpose of desertification activities such as planting trees, building windbreaks, seeding, etc., is primarily to strengthen the vegetation of the area as the main factor in preventing wind erosion, protecting the soil, and preventing damage caused by the movement of quicksand.

Creating an ecological balance in transforming desert lands into an area capable of sustainable economic and social development of the region is considered one of the secondary goals.

One of the very important reasons for increasing the country’s vegetation is that Iran is the seventh carbon-producing country in the world and in terms of carbon absorption, Iran has a very low rank.

Due to the importance of the per capita increase in Iran’s green spaces, a campaign titled “Green Iran, Strong Iran” and a national program for planting one billion saplings over the course of four years were launched.

Experts say tree planting is a climate change solution that doesn’t require scientists to come up with technological solutions to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. It is available now. It is the cheapest one possible and every one of us can get involved.

The national budget bill for the current Iranian calendar year (March 2023-March 2024) has allocated a special line of credit for planting trees.

These credits are used for tree planting and annual maintenance, ILNA quoted Abbas-Ali Nobakht, head of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization, as saying.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said: “If each Iranian plants three saplings, the government’s goal to plant one billion saplings over the next four years will be realized.”

Over the past years, the environment has been damaged by various natural and human factors, and the main priority in planting one billion trees is to restore nature, Nobakht said.

On March 6 which marked National Tree Planting Day, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the importance of planting saplings in preserving the environment, emphasizing that with the help of the people, it is possible to plant one billion saplings.

The destruction of forests and the environment and vegetation is equivalent to the degradation of national interests, and the depletion of part of the forests for construction, except in emergencies, is definitely to the detriment of the nation, he explained.

The Leader further called on people to plant and protect trees, saying that doing such important work requires national support. Tree planting is among the activities that can prevent the disappearance of forests around and inside cities through expanding vegetation cover.

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About 32 million hectares of the country are covered by desert areas, seven million of which are in supercritical condition and 2.5 million hectares are dust-generating hotspots, he stated, emphasizing the need to reduce natural hazards.

One of the approaches we strongly pursue is to conserve two sources of water and soil with the participation of the people, he noted, adding, one of the ways to save the country is watershed management to preserve water and soil resources.

This [Iranian calendar] year (ending March 20), some 100,000 hectares of watershed management projects have been implemented with the participation of the officials and the people, he further highlighted.

“In addition, 50,000 hectares were targeted to reforestation, however, with the help of locals, the projected goal was achieved in 85,000 hectares,” he added.

Referring to the water, soil, and vegetation as the major affected natural resources, he said that although these threats show their impact, in the long run, today the result appears in the form of floods, sand and dust storms, soil erosion, drying of wetlands and groundwater depletion.

Pointing to 16 tons of soil erosion per hectare per year, he stated that 250 million cubic meters of erosion have occurred annually in the dam’s lake.

In addition, of the approximately 40,000 qanats, one-third are exposed to dehydration and drying, he lamented, adding, in the last 20 years, the country was haunted by more than 3,500 floods, each of which has incurred a considerable loss.

Deforestation in Iran worrisome

Ali Banagar, head of the forestry scientific association affiliated with the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, said that the trend of deforestation in Iran is worrisome.

Pointing out that deforestation is a global challenge, he said that drought, floods, extreme heat, cold, sand, and dust storms, as well as climate change, are natural causes of deforestation and reduce the quality of forests.

Apart from natural factors, villa and road construction, development projects, dam construction, wood smuggling, encroachment on forests and land grabbing, forest fires, coal mining, livelihood activities including agriculture, providing fuel and excessive livestock grazing, social and economic problems, and exploitation of natural resources, pests, environmental pollution and landfills, and many other factors have reduced the quantity and quality of forests.

Each of these variables has increased or decreased in recent years, but the result is alarming,” he explained.
Between 2015 and 2020, approximately 12,000 hectares of forests across the country were wiped out annually, IRNA quoted Reza Bayani an official with Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization, as saying.

He went on to say that the country’s forests are estimated at 14.3 million hectares, lamenting, deforestation occurs for a variety of reasons, including dam construction, road construction, fire, and wood smuggling.

The country’s northern forests have been estimated at 2,080,000 million hectares about 60 years ago, and today it is stretching to 2,004,000 hectares taking replanted areas into account.

Meanwhile, Yousefali Ebrahimpour, commander of the protection unit of natural resources and watershed management department of West Azarbaijan province, said earlier that shortage of forest protection units, not enforcing laws, and low fines are among the factors exacerbating deforestation.

Each tree produces 2 kilograms of oxygen annually, so one hectare of trees can produce 2,500 to 3,000 oxygen which helps 10 people to breathe oxygen, while they can reduce the area’s temperature by 11 degrees.

As forests play a significant role in the carbon cycle, when are cut down, not only does carbon absorption cease, but also the carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere as CO2 if the wood is burned or even if it is left to rot after the deforestation process.

According to climateandweather.net, forests store up to 100 times more carbon than agricultural fields of the same area, it is estimated that more than 1.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere due to deforestation, mainly the cutting and burning of forests, every year.

Over 30 million acres of forests and woodlands are lost every year due to deforestation.

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Technical and executive guidelines on desert rehabilitation have been prepared based on the latest scientific achievements and experiences of successful projects in the country and the world, he stated.

Studying, identifying, and managing the phenomenon of desertification and controlling wind erosion in the desert areas of the country are among our tasks, he explained, ISNA reported on Sunday.

Using windbreaks, planting, care, and irrigation, reforested forest management, runoff management, protection, and seeding were among the plans implemented since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21), he said.

According to Jafarian, the most important approach of these guidelines is defined based on the participation of people.

Annually, about 25,000 hectares of land undergo reforestation in Iran, which is more than twice the annual deforestation. However, the reforested land may not have the same biodiversity and vegetation as the original forests.

Reforestation is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation. Reforestation can be used to rectify or improve the quality of human life by soaking up pollution and dust from the air, rebuild natural habitats and ecosystems, mitigate global warming since forests facilitate biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, and harvest for resources, particularly timber, but also non-timber forest products.

Nonetheless, the reestablishment of forests is not just simple tree planting. Forests are made up of a community of species and they build dead organic matter into soils over time.

Last year, Reza Bayani an official with Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization, said between 2015 and 2020, approximately 12,000 hectares of forests across the country wiped out annually.

He went on to say that the country’s forests are estimated at 14.3 million hectares, lamenting, deforestation occurs for a variety of reasons, including dam construction, road construction, fire, and wood smuggling.

Iran, like many other countries in West Asia, is primarily made up of arid deserts, while compared to nearby Saudi Arabia (95% desert), Turkmenistan (80% desert), and Iraq (40% desert), only about 23 percent of its land area is covered with desert areas.

Why deserts need protection?

Deserts are topographic landscapes that receive little precipitation in a typical year. The threshold is 10 inches or 25cm. But more than simply having low rainfall, a desert is “arid”, which means a high rate of water loss through plant reclamation (called transpiration) and through evaporation.

Deserts will differ depending on their climate and location and their overall aridity can influence many things, not least of all the ecology, food chain, plant and animal types. High evaporation leaves behind higher salt levels, affecting further which plants can grow and the individual size and the numbers of herbivores that may feed on them and, in turn, carnivores.

Some experience vast temperature fluctuations, especially hot deserts which may reach unbearable heat during the day and extreme cold at night. This is because the rock and sand absorb heat during the day and release it at night. There may also be an extreme variation between warm and cool seasons, including extreme winds and storms due to the mixing of cold and warm air.

Deserts are vitally important to the planetary ecosystem. They cover approximately 1/3 of the dry land of our planet. They are also amongst the most fragile and endangered biomes.

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