Over 2,000 Rangelands and Forests Set Ablaze in Iran Over 5 Months
The head of Iran’s Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Management Organization says 95 percent of fires in natural resources have human causes, and the number of deliberate cases has increased compared to previous years. In the latest instance, fires in Charam and Miankuh forests have been extinguished.
Masoud Mansour, head of Iran’s Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Management Organization, called for physical and biological protection of natural resources during a television program and reported a shortage of human resources. Expressing dissatisfaction with the condition of natural resources, he reminded that a significant portion of existing protective forces need organization.
Mansour asked officials to help strengthen the structural and organizational status of protective forces for natural resources.
The head of the Forest Organization announced that in the first 5 months of 1399 (Iranian calendar), over 2,000 cases of fires occurred in Iran’s rangelands and forests, with only one percent in difficult-to-access areas. He added that firefighting in these areas required aerial mechanisms and created significant sensitivity in the country.
His reference was to the fire in the Khayiz protected area in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, which exposed the shortage of firefighting facilities in the province and across the country, and showed disagreement between the government and the Ministry of Defense over sending helicopters. In that fire, it became clear that the Ministry of Defense and armed forces, due to insufficient budget allocation by the government, are not cooperating with the Forest Organization.
During the week-long Khayiz fire in the Zagros forests, 100 hectares of natural resources were destroyed.
In recent fires, it was environmental activists and local residents who fought the flames. At least four young environmental activists lost their lives during firefighting operations and due to lack of protective equipment.
In the latest case, the Miankuh-e Gharbi forests in Poldokhtar and the forests and rangelands of Charam county caught fire. According to the director general of natural resources and watershed management of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, the fire has been contained but damage and its cause remain unclear.
The commander of Iran’s environmental protection unit previously stated: “The cause of 90 percent of recent fires is human error and 10 percent is deliberate.”
Fires in Iran’s forests and rangelands have tripled compared to 1398 (Iranian calendar). In a report by the World Forest Watch organization, based on NASA satellite maps, one can see that Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr, Ilam and Isfahan provinces have had the most cases of fires in nature. Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Hormozgan, Razavi Khorasan, Tehran and Kermanshah rank in subsequent positions.
Source: DW
