People's Involvement Guarantees Safeguarding the Natural Resources

Head of FRWO said: "Natural resources management does not succeed without the public participation, and the people themselves protect the natural resources in the best possible manner."

According to FRWO's website, Massoud Mansour, who left for Kermanshah province on Wednesday to express his condolences to the families of the victims of the Zagros forest fires, in a meeting with the Governor General of Kermanshah noted: " Volunteers have sacrificed their lives, their most valuable asset, to save forests and rangelands from fires."

Mansour said: "Natural resource is a public asset whose management is deposited to us as a heritage."

He mentioned "Kermanshah has diverse climatic conditions and natural characteristics and therefore is home to many forest and rangeland plant and shrub species that require special attention due to rich biodiversity."

Head of FRWO in another section of his remarks referred to the wildfires that had occurred in the natural resources and reiterated: "This year we have witnessed more than 1,300 wildfires in the natural resources, which is more frequent than last year."

He said: "Most of these fires were immediately put out with the help of local volunteers, and only a few fire cases needed aerial services in remote mountainous areas."

Mansour said: "FRWO has faced problems in coordinating air firefighting, which fortunately, coordination for aerial firefighting was resolved by the order of President Rouhani, and the follow-up action of the First Vice President."

He lamented the deaths of a number of volunteers in the forest fires, calling it a tragic incident for FRWO, and expressed hope that natural resources would no longer witness such tragic events.

Stating that people are the best protectors of natural resources, he explained: "Natural resource projects are carried out within management plans with the collaboration of local communities. People can engage in natural resource projects by establishing local cooperatives that normally need simple and smooth formalities to form."

Mansour said with reference to the Supreme Leader's emphasis on the need to protect land and water resources, he said: "The conservation of natural resources is a duty for each and everyone as it is a public asset that belongs to present and future generations."

The Governor General of Kermanshah, who hosted the Head of FRWO and his accompanying delegation on Wednesday said: "the benefits of oak trees must be transferred to the local people like other species such as pistacia atlantica and natural gum products if we are to protect the Zagros forests."

Houshang Bazvand stated: "people of the province sacrifice their lives to protect nature as an invaluable asset for themselves and their generations."

People of Kermanshah have sacrificed their lives to keep natural resources for the next generations. This loyalty must be captured as a model and extended to natural resources management throughout the country.

The Governor General of Kermanshah considered the expansion of firefighting bases as one of the basic needs for natural resources management and said: "We need to employ professional fire fighting staff to address the fire emergencies."

He said "Dry trees can exacerbate fires in the natural therefore permission to harvest these dry trees from forests and rangelands can, in addition to generating income for the people of the region, help control fires in the coming years."