TEHRAN – The Department of Environment has held a session to identify goals and adopt policies for combating agriculture pests across lands under the Organization’s management.

Hadi Kiadaliri, the DOE’s deputy head for public participation, said pests are threatening forests, so developing a managerial plan for combating pests is necessary, ISNA reported.

Emphasizing the need to consider ecological goals, he added: “Maintaining an ecosystem’s balance is very important and should be taken into account based on ecological processes.”

For his part, Hamid Zohrabi, the DOE’s deputy head for biodiversity, called for raising public awareness in preventing diseases in agricultural lands and underlined need for cooperation between officials and communities.

Iran is a rich country in terms of biodiversity, with about 37,500 animal species and more than 8,000 plant species. In addition, it is home to 579 bird species, 214 mammal species, 284 reptile species, 23 amphibian species, 309 freshwater fish species, and 763 marine fish species in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman, and the Caspian Sea.

Also, some 35,283 species of invertebrates have been identified in the country, out of which more than 32,600 species are arthropods. Over 94 percent of the country’s animal species diversity belongs to invertebrates and less than 6 percent to vertebrates. Insects, with at least 26,800 species, account for more than 70 percent of the country’s total species.

The Asiatic cheetah and the ostrich, whose numbers in nature have dropped to less than 25, are among the critically endangered species. Moreover, there are 5 species of Caspian sturgeon, unique in the world, that are disappearing from the Caspian waters.

According to experts, species extinction is a natural phenomenon, but the speed at which they are disappearing is concerning. Unfortunately, the current rate of extinction has accelerated in the present era due to human activities; it will have serious consequences for ecosystems and the well-being of the planet.