TEHRAN – The Department of Environment (DOE) has prepared 11 action plans for the conservation of endangered wildlife species, which will soon be implemented.

A total budget of 700 billion rials (nearly $16 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been allocated for the implementation of biodiversity and habitat protection programs, Kioumars Kalantari, deputy DOE chief for natural resources and biodiversity stated.

The conservation plans include endangered species of brown bear, Asian black bear, Persian fallow deer, marsh crocodile, Kaiser's mountain newt, Euphrates softshell turtle, great bustard, greater white-fronted goose, and leopard, he explained.

Protected areas added by 1m ha

He went on to say that one million hectares of natural lands added to the country’s protected areas.

Currently, about 18.8 million hectares of the country's lands are under the management of the DOE, which was 17.7 million hectares before this, he explained.

In fact, 13 newly managed areas were approved in seven provinces, including Isfahan, Tehran, South Khorasan, Fars, Kordestan, Yazd, and Khuzestan, of which seven protected areas, three wildlife sanctuaries, two national natural monuments, and a national park.

Four types of areas have been designated for protection, including 31 national parks, 46 wildlife refuges, 169 protected areas, and 38 natural national monuments.

Sustainable exploitation of biodiversity a must

Today, all governments have come to the conclusion that all aspects of human life, as well as growth and development, depend on biodiversity.

All three pillars of biodiversity namely, variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels are important and must be considered to ensure biodiversity preserve; any damage to any of these three pillars will damage the entire biodiversity and pose a serious threat to human life.

“Indeed, Iran is not one of the megadiverse countries, like Brazil, India, and Malaysia, but it has habitats with the richest biodiversity.

However, various factors such as sustainable exploitation of biodiversity should come to the center of attention to better protect the country’s biodiversity, to do so, help local communities earn income, and biodiversity can also benefit from local communities’ protection,” Shahaboddin Montazemi, director of the wildlife's conservation office at the DOE told the Tehran Times in June.

He went on to say that “the DOE has taken extensive measures in various areas such as habitat, species, and genetics; as animal species in the country include 37 species of mammals, 78 bird species, 22 species of reptiles, 6 species of bivalves, and 25 species of fish of inland waters.

The organization's gene bank is also a major step toward the genetic protection of species.”

FB/MG