Warning from Activists and Experts Regarding the Harvesting of Fallen Trees in Hyrcanian Forests

The approval of the caretaker of the 'Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization' of the Islamic Republic for the harvesting of broken and fallen trees from the Hyrcanian forests has sparked widespread criticism from experts and environmental activists. In a recent reaction to this decision, 115 university professors, experts, activists, and journalists in the field of environment and natural resources wrote a letter to Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of the Islamic Republic, warning about the detrimental consequences of any unscientific and unprincipled manipulation of these ancient forests. The letter emphasizes that the Hyrcanian forests, estimated to be over 45 million years old, had an area of 3.6 million hectares seventy years ago, but today it has decreased to less than 2 million hectares. These experts and university professors stated that the Hyrcanian forests play a vital role in the stability of climate and weather, soil, water, biodiversity, livelihoods, landscape beauty, and human and agricultural settlements in their downstream plains. They warned that the hasty implementation of Article 36, Clause 1 of the Seventh Development Plan, despite opposition, would open the door for profit-seeking companies into the ancient Hyrcanian forests. This clause states that the harvesting of uprooted, broken, and fallen trees resulting from natural factors and non-renewable pest-infested forests must be carried out solely by the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization and with the approval of the head of this organization. The letter from the professors and experts to Pezeshkian stated that the mentioned directive was not carried out with the 'approval of the head of the organization.' The Hyrcanian forests are located in northern Iran, along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and the northern slope of the Alborz Mountains, and have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2019. The name Hyrcanian forests is derived from the ancient name of Gorgan (Hyrcania) and spans five provinces in Iran. The continuous negligence of the officials of the Islamic Republic, incomplete planning, lack of adequate funding, insufficient forest rangers, and lack of proper oversight have led to a rapid decrease in the area of these forests over the past decades.