SHIRAZ, Fars Province Head of Forest and Range Organization Hamid Kalantari said here Wednesday that in the past 30 years the forested area in northern Iran has decreased by 130,000 hectares.
He added that based on figure the forest area of northern Iran stood at 1.9 million hectares in 1968 and now it is about 70,000 hectares.
He added that the reason for the reduction of forest is due to turning the land into tea cultivation, adding that some of the depletion has been offset by planting trees.
Also, Kalantari said timber smuggling is another reason for the deforestation. He added that a special headquarters has been set up to combat smuggling in Gilan and other provinces.
He also put the total area of sweep and forest areas in the country at 90 million hectares and 12.4 million hectares, respectively.
(IRNA)