TEHRAN – The national document on promoting the culture of environmental protection was unveiled on Sunday by the head of the Ministry of the Environment Issa Kalantari and the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas Salehi.

This document defines seven strategies and fifty-four actions aimed at increasing intersectoral and inter-institutional partnerships. It addresses issues such as environment, environmental protection, culture of environmental protection, environmental education and social responsibility, life resources, pollutants, clean energy, green economy, environmental culture, sustainable development, green jobs and green management.

The main objective of the document is to protect the environment of the country and to preserve its natural resources by promoting the culture of environmental protection in the society.

It is ready to implement Article 50 of the Constitution, which emphasizes issues such as the establishment of an integrated national environmental system, the coordinated and systematic management of natural resources, the criminalization of degradation of the environment, the preparation of ecological atlases, the strengthening of environmental diplomacy, the economy, the promotion of environmental culture and ethics.

In March, a national document for the preservation of water resources, management of drought and soil erosion and environmental protection was drafted by the office of the vice president for science and technology.

Optimizing water consumption, protecting the environment, managing sand and dust storms (SDS) and reducing pollutants in water, air and soil are the four main themes. of the document.

18.5 million hectares protected

To preserve the existing biodiversity over Iran’s vast geographic expanse, four types of areas have been designated for preservation and protection, including national parks, wildlife refuges, protected areas and natural national monuments. In 1997, the DOE controlled 7,563,983 hectares of these areas. To date, protected areas have reached 18.5 million hectares.

According to the latest studies, around 1,300 species of vertebrates, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and aquatic fish, around 30,000 species of invertebrates and 8,000 species of plants have been identified in the country.

Unfortunately, over the past two decades, human activities have resulted in alarming degradation of ecosystems, the removal of genes, species and biological capacities; Human threats to biodiversity have accelerated the most over the past 50 years in the history of human life.

Address environmental issues

Urban development, expansion of agricultural land, large-scale tree cutting and destruction of forests under the pretext of building roads and dams, which resulted in the subsequent drying up of wetlands and rivers, extinction of species plant and animal life, sand and dust storms, and the onset of various marine and land environmental problems.

It is estimated that 16.4 tons of soil is eroded in Iran per hectare, more than three times the world average. A total of 2 billion tons of soil erosion occurs in Iran every year, and the volume has increased in recent years due to heavy flooding.

Each ton of soil is valued at $ 28 in terms of metal ores, so the loss of two billion tons of soil per year means an annual loss of $ 56 billion, which is more than the revenue from the sale of petroleum products. and agricultural, garden, livestock, poultry and fishing.

Meanwhile, according to the Standardized Evapotranspiration Index of Precipitation (SPEI), 11 percent of Iranians are affected by a mild drought, of which 21.5 percent are also under the pressure of a moderate drought; while a severe drought puts pressure on 32.5% of the population.

The country has been repeatedly exposed to sand and dust storms due to its presence in the arid and semi-arid part of the world, so that in 2006-2007, dust storms originated in Iraq and from Syria hit Iran, haunting a large area of ​​the country so that it reached the central areas and southern slopes of Alborz and also included Tehran.

Abdolreza Daneshvar Amoli, an official at the Iranian Biological Resource Center affiliated with the University Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR) said in 2019 that 150 animal species in Iran are on the brink of extinction.

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