FRWO to Develop 30,000 Ha of Steep Slope Lands

Abbas-Ali Nobakht, Deputy Head of FRWO for Forestry said in Qazvin province: "FRWO plans to reforest 30,000 hectares of steep slope lands in order to protect soil and control erosion in hotspots by the end of the year."

He noted: "The central mandate of FRWO is to preserve the country's vegetation cover especially forests and rangelands through silviculture and enrichment operations."

Dr. Nobakht added: "The biggest threat to the world's forests is climate change, and the country's forests are no exception, that has triggered the outbreak of pests and diseases as well as wildfires."

In another part of his remarks referring to the ecosystem functions of forest, Nobakht said: "On average, each hectare of forest is able to store about 1,500 cubic meters of water, therefore for instance in Zagros forests, with about 6 million hectares of forests, more than 9 billion cubic meters of water is stored that explain the very importance of forests in dry lands."

Nobakht reiterated: "The share of Zagros forests in production of water resources is highly valuable and about 40% of the country's water is produced in this region."

He added: "The forests in the Caspian region with an area of 2,004,000 hectares is able to store about 3.6 billion cubic meters of water and gradually release it in the northern, and southern parts of Alborz , that half of Iranian civilization in the south of Alborz, depended on it from the very past."

Nobakht said: "Climate change and water shortage in the central plateau, including Qazvin plain, are speeding up ecological migration to the northern and southern slopes of Alborz and northeast and northwest of the Zagros, which intensify need to vegetation cover and underground water resources to maintain the ecological balance."