Efforts to Revive the Oak Trees of Zagros

Months after reports emerged about the pollution affecting hundreds of thousands of oak trees in Zagros due to the 'coal pest' and the increasing destruction of forests across 11 western provinces, an Iranian environmental official states that a budget of one trillion tomans has been allocated for their revival project, although it is unclear when this funding will be utilized. Recent wildfires, drought, and widespread pollution in western provinces have raised serious concerns about the future of Zagros oak forests, which were once among the largest of their kind. According to Mehr News Agency on December 13, quoting Shirin Abolghasemi, the director of the national protection project for Zagros oaks, a budget of one trillion tomans has been defined for this project; however, 'the Supreme Council of the Environment has mandated that until an action plan is defined, no financial resources will be allocated to it.' The 'National Action Program to Combat Drought of Western Oaks' is set to be implemented in collaboration with the Environmental Organization and the management of Iran's Forests and Rangelands Organization. Ms. Abolghasemi states that various actions are planned for the project's implementation, including 'cleaning polluted areas' and conducting 'infrastructure operations' for planting oak trees. This environmental official has also added that this project is 'very difficult.' In addition to water resource management, organizing local communities and managing agricultural practices for oak cultivation must be carried out in the region itself, as planting saplings and transferring them to the area has been deemed insufficient for reviving Zagros forests. A year ago, following the continued spread of the 'coal pest' affecting Zagros oaks, an incurable pest, a report was published about the potential felling of 18 million trees to prevent worsening conditions. At that time, Shirin Abolghasemi told the Ebtekar newspaper, 'In three years, one million and 132 thousand hectares of the six million hectares of Zagros forests have been completely destroyed, and if this trend continues, we will soon witness a Zagros desert instead of Zagros forests.' Alongside these issues, recent widespread wildfires have also turned many forests, including thousands of oak trees, to ashes.