Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran is experiencing a range of drastic ecological and environmental problems that need to be urgently addressed.

The Iranian government has been taking various measures to tackle these problems over the years. However, its efforts have not been effective.

An Iranian official had recently admitted that the organization to deal with ecological problems did not have sufficient resources to wage its fight and deal with environmental issues.

Esmail Kahrom, the deputy head of the Iranian Department of Environment within the President’s Office, said the department currently suffers from lack of funds and human resources.

Kahrom told Trend that 80-85 percent of desertification in Iran has been happening because of dying forests. Lack of funds and human resources have been preventing the department from taking proper measures to protect the forests.

"The DOE and Iran’s Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization are the poorest organizations in terms of budget," Kahrom said, adding that the rate of desertification in the country is very high.

Mentioning a NASA report on Iran losing about 1-1.5 percent of its forests annually, Kahrom said unauthorized pasturage of livestock also contributes to disappearance of forests.

He noted that smuggling of wood, unauthorized cutting down of trees, wildfires as well as unauthorized pasturage of livestock are the main reasons.

The Iranian media had recently quoted the Iranian Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization’s official, Abbas Kargar, as saying that some seven million hectares of land in Iran can dry out.

Kargar called for people’s cooperation, and said the entire problem cannot be resolved with just the state's budget.

He said despite the low level of rain and snow fall in Iran, more than 2.5 million hectares of land was saved.

The drought in Iran has become one of the most important problems in the country. A recent study conducted by NASA predicted that one third of the Earth, including Iran, will suffer from severe droughts.

Iran is located in an arid zone and the country has been facing a serious water shortage crisis over the past several years. The government has taken some measures to extricate itself out of the current ecological situation. However, it has not been able to address the problem so far.

Considering Iran's drying lands and lack of both financial and human resources, the issue is considered one of the most important ones for the ruling government.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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