TEHRAN – International Day of Plant Health is held annually on May 12 to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect biodiversity and the environment, and boost economic development.

International Day of Plant Health 2026, with the theme “Plant Biosecurity for Food Security,” focuses on biosecurity as the frontline defense for food systems. By protecting our plants today, we are proactively securing the livelihoods and nutrition of billions.

Ninety-eight percent of the oxygen we breathe comes from plants. Eighty percent of the food we eat is provided by plants. But we lose as much as 40 percent of crops from pests and diseases every year, impeding efforts to provide food and nutrition for all.

Plant biosecurity is like border control and hygiene for plants — checking, protecting, and responding to prevent dangerous plant pests and diseases from damaging crops and disrupting their trade. It serves as a safety net, so we have food on our tables and farmers’ jobs are safe. It keeps international trade smooth and preserves precious biodiversity.

Biosecurity tools such as international plant health standards applied in their trade underpin the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Four Betters by enabling better production, better nutrition, better environment and better lives for all, leaving no one behind.

The annual value of trade in agricultural products has grown almost threefold over the past decade, largely in emerging economies and developing countries, reaching USD 1.7 trillion.

FAO estimates that agricultural production must rise by about 60 percent by 2050 to feed a larger and generally richer population.

Climate change threatens to reduce not only the quantity of crops, lowering yields, but also the nutritional value. Rising temperatures also mean that more plant pests and diseases are appearing earlier and in places they were never seen before.

Conservation of native, endemic plant species

In November 2025, the head of the Iranian parliament’s environment fraction, Somayeh Rafiei, underlined paying special attention to endemic and native plant species and implementing plant diversity conservation projects in the country.

Zagros [forests in the western part of the country] is one of the top 20 global biodiversity hotspots, and nine out of 11 ecosystems in the world have been identified in the country, which is why Iran has a rich diversity of flora and fauna, ISNA quoted Rafiei as saying.

The country is home to over 8,500 plant species, most of which are found in Zagros, while there are only 5000 plant species known in Europe, she added.

Emphasizing the significance of developing a gene bank and genome map for plant genetic resources in the country, especially those that are disappearing, the official called for supporting research projects on plants.

She also underlined prioritizing endemic and native species, focusing on those that have medicinal values and those that are drought-resistant and play a key role in ensuring food security.

Considering that Iran is one of the countries with low vegetation and only seven percent of its total area is covered with forests, the need to increase the country’s green space is very important.

One of the very important reasons for increasing the country’s vegetation is that Iran is the seventh carbon-producing country in the world, and in terms of carbon absorption, Iran has a very low rank.

Due to the importance of the per capita increase in Iran’s green spaces, a campaign titled “Green Iran, Strong Iran” and a national program for planting one billion saplings over the course of four years were launched.

Experts say tree planting is a climate change solution that doesn’t require scientists to come up with technological solutions to draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. It is available now. It is the cheapest one possible, and everyone of us can get involved.

MT/MG