Zagros Burning Amid Lack of Resources and Coordination Failures

Officials in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province say wildfires in the heights of Nark Zagros have been contained, but fires continue to rage in the Khami Protected Area. Experts cite delays in controlling the fires and the absence of helicopter and water-bombing aircraft capabilities.

Wildfires that began Thursday night (July 8) in the heights of Gachsaran’s Nark Mountain were reportedly contained by authorities in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province after three days.

Ali Reza Atabak, Governor of Gachsaran, said the fire had been controlled in several phases but re-ignited due to high altitude, steep slopes, difficult terrain, and strong winds.

According to this official, the cause of the widespread wildfires in Gachsaran’s heights will be announced after necessary expert assessment.

Khami Protected Area Still Burning

While officials speak of containing fires in Nark heights, the wildfire in the Khami Protected Area in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, which began on July 19, remains uncontrolled.

According to officials, the inaccessible nature of this mountainous region, extreme heat, and strong winds have made fire suppression efforts difficult.

Atabak, noting that the Nark fire “was contained with the cooperation of natural resources, environmental, civilian forces and service-providing agencies of Gachsaran and various cities in the province,” announced the deployment of forces to extinguish fires in the Khami mountain protected area, which he said “is being carried out using four helicopters.”

“Delays in Fire Control: Lack of Coordination Between Agencies”

Ahmad Rahmani, a member of the research faculty at Iran’s Forest and Rangeland Research Institute, pointing to delays in containing recent wildfires and emphasizing the inaccessible nature of these areas, says: “To control wildfires in such regions, adequate equipment such as helicopters and water-bombing aircraft must be deployed.” However, according to him, given the shortage of resources in this field, “volunteers and forces from non-governmental organizations are forced to transport equipment and supplies including shovels, pickaxes, and water to firefighting teams under difficult conditions using donkeys.”

This comes as the Gachsaran governor says conditions in the heights are such that helicopters cannot be used for water spraying, and only human forces, under harsh conditions, can prevent the spread of flames.

Delays in containing wildfires in Zagros regions occur even as domestic news agencies reported last month the publication of fire prediction maps for forests. These maps predicted that some points in the Zagros region face critical conditions due to high fire risk.

The research faculty member, emphasizing the necessity of resources alongside prediction, views the multi-day continuation of wildfires in Zagros regions as evidence of lack of necessary coordination between agencies and the failure to deploy helicopters to inaccessible areas promptly and in adequate numbers.

Zagros’s Share in Iran’s Nature and Resources

The Khami mountain protected area, covering over 25,000 hectares between Gachsaran and Basht cities in the south of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, is located within the mountainous and forested Zagros region. The Khami area, which is part of the Zagros mountainous and forest region, joined protected areas twenty years ago with the goal of supporting wildlife populations of leopards, wild goats, wild sheep, rams, and Chukar partridges.

According to information from the natural resources and watershed management website of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, this Zagros region has 14,263,000 hectares of national resources, of which 53 percent of the province’s total area consists of forest and 34 percent consists of rangelands.

Zagros forests account for approximately 40 percent of the country’s total forests. Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province’s share of Zagros forests among Iran’s Zagros provinces is 20 percent. Oak, pistachio, maple, bird’s tongue, poplar, and wild pear are among Zagros’s plant species.

In recent wildfires, according to environmental activists in Iran, vast areas of ancient oak trees and Zagros wildlife species have been destroyed.

Source: DW