Judiciary and FRWO Determined to Fight Intruders to Natural Resources

Khalil Aghaee, Deputy Minister and Head of Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization (FRWO) met with Mohammad Javad Heshmati, the Chief of Tehran Court of Justice on Tuesday at FRWO Headquarters and discussed the natural resources related issues.

In this meeting, Khalil Aghaee said that FRWO is mandated to conserve and develop natural resources, especially forests, rangelands and watersheds, as one of the priority areas of work and collaboration with the Judiciary can further intensify the fight against wood smugglers.

Head of FRWO in another part of his remarks exalted the role of the local people in the protection and restoration of forests and rangelands and noted: “The lawsuits filed in the law-courts are very high in number at the moment. Therefore, enhanced collaboration of the judiciary with FRWO can both reduce disputes with people and minimize the number of lawsuits at courts

In this connection, Aghaee proposed to form a joint workgroup between FRWO and Tehran Court of Justice in order to review the procedures and manner of resolving current claims.

The Chief of Tehran Court of Justice thanking Aghaee's remarks welcomed the proposal to form a joint working group and asserted that it would enhance the precision of actions in protecting forests and rangelands.

He also emphasized the importance of protecting forests and urged FRWO to take strict measures as to harvesting of broken and windblown trees in the Hyrcanian region in order to minimize damages incurred to forests.

Heshmati also referred to the destruction of forests and rangelands due to mining and developmental activities, and said that road construction in the nature may both lead to destruction of vegetation cover and pave the ground for future land grabbing that should be properly addressed by FRWO.