Acting Head of FRWO Unveil the Nine Priority Initiatives in 2020

Acting Head of FRWO in his first general gathering with FRWO's national and provincial authorities unveiled the nine leapfrogging programs natural resources management in 2020.

According to FRWO's website, Dr. Masoud Mansour explained the goals, policies and executive plans of FRWO in 2020 in a virtual meeting on Tuesday. At the beginning of the meeting, he congratulated the Sha'baniyah Eids and the upcoming holy month of Ramadan, and asked the Almighty Allah to bless FRWO to achieve their goals in the management of natural resources.

Acting Head of FRWO called the IWM plan, desertification control plan, Hyrcanian forests Logging Ban Plan, and forest conservation plan, the four pivotal programmes of natural resources management and noted that IWM plan including all structural, biomechanical and biological operations, put a very heavy mission on FRWO, owing to earmarked budget from National Development Fund (NDF).

He also cited desertification as a serious problem in the country, and noted that significant financial resources have been earmarked to control dust storms that require serious endeavor.

Acting Head of FRWO in this meeting unveiled the "9 in 99" initiative, which includes nine unfinished activities that should be implemented in 2020 as follows:

National Land Cadastre Mapping:

Dr. Mansour called the completion of the cadastre mapping as one of the nine priority area of FRWO and emphasized: "The cadastre mapping of national lands' should be finalized in earnest with the priority of forest and coast areas."

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Demarcation of Forest Reserves Boundaries 

Acting Head of FRWO announced that identification and demarcation of the forest reserves boundaries is another area of priority of FRWO based on directive of 1993 and emphasized "All forest reserves will be identified and demarcated by FRWO based on indicators to be determined by High Council of FRWO".

Rangeland Management

Dr. Mansour mentioned rangelands should be managed based on management plans and from now on the issuance of grazing permit in rangelands is dependent upon management plan by FRWO.

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Medicinal Herbs Production

Dr. Mansour mentioned rangelands role pivotal in FRWO and highlighted the need for their implementation within an economic plan with emphasis on medicinal herbs that will provide for their economic production."

Dr. Mansour mentioned rangelands role pivotal in FRWO and highlighted the need for their implementation within an economic plan with emphasis on medicinal herbs that will provide for their economic production."

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Forest Parks Management

In another part of his remarks, Dr. Mansour referred to the forest parks management based on FRWO's basic strategy and said: "The management of forest parks should be transferred to contractors through tenders based on decision of technical committees for their optimal protection."

Development of Wood Farming Destroys the Incentive for Illegal Logging

Acting Head of FRWO called the wood farming and exploitation of by-products in forests and rangelands, a huge wealth for land users  that eliminate the incentives for illegal logging and said: "It is necessary that and exploitation of by-products to be subject to robust plans to prevent the extinction of rare species."

Dr. Mansour further referred to the importance of wood farming in the country and said: " We must set a new record in wood farming and wood production this year and reduce the incentive for illegal logging the country."

He explained that in non-national lands, natural resources management should act as sponsors and provide low-cost facilities and services as well subsidies for seedling production while establishing a link between producer and consumer.

Regarding the role of natural resources management in the development of wood farming in national lands, he said: "In the northern provinces of the country, due to climatic conditions, there is no problem in the development of wood farming, and in other provinces, wood farming can be developed from unconventional waters."

Mansour also said: "By identifying potential areas, wood farming will be carried out in a significant part of these areas this year, and the cultivated areas of the previous year will be exploited in the form of legal plans and regulations."

Development and Strengthening of the Natural Resources Development Fund (NRDF) By Using Legal Capacities

Acting Head of FRWO hailed the establishment of the Natural Resources Development Fund (NRDF) another nine axes of natural resources management to render support to the sector and said: "The establishment of the fund can not only enhance participatory mechanisms but also reduce damages to natural resources and the environment."

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Electronic government

Dr. Mansour noted that one of the priorities of the FRWO is to complete the government electronic service and the web-based telecommunication technologies to improve and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery to the public at the earliest including in the land and related natural resource sector for increased transparency in service delivery and emphasized that all natural resource bureaus in the cities should be connected to administrative automation to monitor all correspondence and prevent damage and errors.

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Acting Head of FRWO also referred to the role of 300 volunteers in safeguarding natural resources and called on the use of their capacity to protect natural resources by designing appropriate mechanisms and innovation.

Natural Resources Provide the Basis for the Leap in Production

Dr. Mansour said: "According to the year of the production leap,although some of the actions of FRWO are not productive, the activities of natural resources can provide the basis for the leap in production in the country.

Acting Head of FRWO in this regard referred to some of the vital functions of natural resources in watershed management and desertification control and said: " IWM and any watershed management reduces flood damage and prevents soil erosion and desertification measures prevent dust storms and provide security for the country's infrastructure and agriculture.