Iran: Iran lacks sufficient funds to tackle environmental problems

Iran is experiencing a range of drastic ecological and environmental problems that need to be urgently addressed.

The Iranian government has been taking various measures to tackle these problems over the years. However, its efforts have not been effective.

An Iranian official had recently admitted that the organization to transaction with ecological problems did not have sufficient resources to wage its fight and transaction with environmental issues.

Esmail Kahrom, the deputy chief of the Iranian Department of Environment within the President’s Office, said the department currently suffers from lack of funds and human resources.

Kahrom told Trend that 80-85 % of desertification in Iran has been happening because of dying forests. Lack of funds and human resources have been preventing the department from taking proper measures to protect the forests.

"The DOE and Iran’s Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization are the poorest organizations in terms of budget," Kahrom said, adding that the rate of desertification in the country is very high.

Mentioning a NASA statement on Iran losing about 1-1.5 % of its forests annually, Kahrom said unauthorized pasturage of livestock as well contributes to disappearance of forests.

He noted that smuggling of wood, unauthorized cutting down of trees, wildfires inclunding unauthorized pasturage of livestock are the major reasons.

The Iranian media had recently quoted the Iranian Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization’s official, Abbas Kargar, as saying that some seven million hectares of land in Iran can dry out.

Kargar called for people’s cooperation, and said all problem cannot be resolved with just the national's budget.

He said despite the low level of rain and snow fall in Iran, additional than 2.5 million hectares of land was saved.

The drought in Iran has become one of the majority significant problems in the country. A recent study conducted by NASA predicted that one third of the Earth, inclunding Iran, will suffer from severe droughts.

Iran is located in an arid zone and the country has been facing a critical water shortage crisis over the completed several years. The government has taken some measures to extricate itself out of the current ecological situation. However, it has not been able to address the problem so far.

Considering Iran's drying lands and lack of both financial and human resources, the issue is considered one of the majority significant ones for the ruling government.