Warning of Complete Destruction of Northern Iran's Forests in the Next 30 Years

The head of the Iranian Forestry Association states that "42 percent" of the forests in northern Iran are at risk of "destruction," and if the current trend continues, there will be no forests left in these areas in the next 30 years. Hadi Kiadliri announced this news while highlighting the dire state of Iran's forests, which led to the approval of the "forest breathing" plan in 2016, under which even the harvesting of dead and fallen trees is prohibited to combat any illegal and excessive logging in northern Iran. Previously, following the excessive exploitation of northern forests over a long period that resulted in a decrease in forest inventory, the Iranian government in 2012 had declared that logging in northern forests would only be legal for pest-infested, dead, and fallen trees. According to the head of the Iranian Forestry Association, despite the implementation of the "forest breathing" plan, currently 42 percent of the northern forests are at risk of destruction, and "the same signs that led to the destruction of the Zagros forests over the past 30 years are now observed in the northern forests." Kiadliri stated that in the northern highlands of Iran, "we have lost glaciers, springs, and rivers are drying up, and these factors are signs of drought," warning that "if this trend continues, in 30 years (in this region) we will have no forests left." The head of the Iranian Forestry Association added that drought and encroachment on nature have caused the death of millions of trees in northern Iran over the past five to six years, and in some cases, "four to five times the ecosystem capacities of the northern forests' wood resources have been exploited." Kiadliri emphasized the importance of northern Iran's forests, which constitute "one percent of the country's soil," stating that "this one percent of the country's soil has ancient significance and is millions of years old, considered a natural heritage of the world." Iran has over 14 million hectares of forest land, of which two million hectares are known as Hyrcanian forests, located in northern Iran along the Caspian Sea. Experts have previously warned that with the cutting down of each tree in these forests, we are one step closer to desertification of these areas. Meanwhile, in addition to land grabbing and deforestation, northern Iran is also facing the phenomenon of sea grabbing, with Hossein Masoum, the representative of the Minister of Roads and Urban Development in the Council for the Preservation of Public Rights in Lands and Natural Resources, stating that this phenomenon in the northern country is such that "there is nothing left of the northern shores." Some officials and environmental advocates say that the main problem leading to land grabbing, sea grabbing, mountain grabbing, and deforestation is the "weak oversight of uncontrolled construction," "lack of transparent management," "mistakes in municipal revenue generation methods," and "excessive issuance of various permits" by some organizations.