Cutting Down Dozens of Trees in Chitgar Forest Park; Environmental Activists: Result of 'Systematic Intent'

A number of environmental activists criticized the cutting down of dozens of trees in Chitgar Forest Park in Tehran, attributing 'this destruction' to 'a systematic intent.' Javad Heydarian, a journalist and environmental activist, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): 'After the trees in the Saadabad Palace area and Italy Street were cut down, and probably in other places, the trees in Chitgar Park have been patiently sawed down.' Recently, Mehr News Agency reported the cutting of 800 trees in Chitgar Park in District 22 of Tehran, citing Alireza Rahmati, the head of Tehran's Environmental Protection Agency, who stated that the reason for this action was the trees' infestation by bark beetles. Meanwhile, some media activists consider 'the stunning added value of residential and commercial lands compared to agricultural and garden lands' as the main reason for 'killing Tehran's gardens.' Maryam Shakarani, a journalist, shared this topic on X. Nasser Amani, a member of Tehran City Council, also recently reported on the 'astronomical number' of tree destruction in parks around Tehran, such as Sarakheh Hasar, Chitgar, and Lavizan. According to Nasser Amani, about 13,000 trees in these three parks are at risk of being cut down. This member of the Tehran City Council did not limit the dryness of trees to parks and criticized the lack of proper maintenance of trees along the capital's streets. Maryam Shakarani pointed out that Tehran was once a 'garden city' and noted that 'the area of Tehran's gardens has decreased to one-eighth over the past 40 years.' News regarding tree cutting in Tehran comes at a time when, according to Daryoush Golalizadeh, head of the National Center for Air and Climate Change of the Environmental Protection Organization, air pollution in Tehran last year caused the deaths of 6,000 residents of the Iranian capital and resulted in $3 billion in damages. Also see: 26,000 Iranians died due to air pollution; a member of parliament: power plant diesel is 'equivalent to mazut.' The potential cutting of '90,000 trees' in Zagros if the 'Lirok Dam' project is implemented despite opposition. Request for assistance to implement Raisi's plan; planting one billion trees will cost 18 trillion tomans. Environmental disaster in the Arjan plain; widespread tree cutting and destruction of wildlife in the area. New research: the best way to combat climate change is to plant billions of trees.