Tehran – The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forestry Director of the Asia-Pacific Regional Office emphasizes the need to adopt global sustainable forest management (SFM) practices at the local level to address the forest challenges of Zagros.
The special panel, entitled “International Cooperation, Lessons Learned, Best Practices in Sustainable Management of Zagros Forests,” was essentially organized on Tuesday by the offices of the Diplomacy, Natural Resources and Basin Management Organization (NRWMO) and the United Nations Resident Coordinator.
Attending the panel, FAO executive Ilias Animun presented the various dimensions and approaches of SFM, and the relevance of integrating SFM as a key component of Agrifood system transformations. He also cited the global desire to increase forest cover by 3%.
Presenting global case studies from Nepal, Cameroon, Vietnam, Gambia, South Africa and China, he highlighted the importance of active community engagement, institutional reform and participatory approaches as factors for success. He also cited the results of a global analysis of excellence in SFM and community forestry.
Animone presented major challenges for Zagros forests, including land use change, soil erosion, limited community perception and involvement, the impact of climate change, oak charcoal disease, and inadequate integration of management approaches.
He highlighted the need for coordinated behavior and suggested solutions such as adaptive learning and management, stakeholder engagement, investment in alternative models, excellent governance, building resilience, and a landscape-based approach.
He also highlighted various Iranian FAO tools and FAO support projects that contribute to sustainable forestry and land management, including the Oak’s Dieback Response Project, the decline of resilience oaks, rehabilitation of degraded land, and strengthening climate access through the Green Crimate Fund (GCF).
He emphasizes the need to build these projects, consolidate the need to integrate a sustainable, comprehensive value chain of community-oriented conservation, recovery, and products and services, working across landscapes and marginalized communities (a) ensuring sustainable ecosystem services flows, and (b) build a circular, meaningful bioeconomy.
This can pave the way for a more resilient and sustainable future for Iranian forest ecosystems, especially in the Zagros Mountains.
The results of these panels will be fed to the International Conference on Sustainable Zagros Forest Management, which is scheduled to be held in Tehran in late June.
Conservation of Zagros Forest requires global cooperation
Iran is calling on international organizations and other countries to help maintain Zagros forests through a comprehensive cooperative programme, the head of the Natural Resources and Basin Management Agency said.
Zagros forests are one of Iran’s most important natural resources, accounting for 40% of the country’s forests and play an important role in the production of most of the country’s freshwater.
Iran is famous for having one of the oldest forests in the world. The country’s 300,000 hectares of forests are engraved on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the IRNA quotes Ali Teimouri as saying.
Officials made their remarks while working on an international conference on sustainable management of Zagros forests.
“Their geographical location makes these forests have flora and fauna diversity. Zagros forests show rich biological diversity, with over 2,500 plants and animal species not even found in the rest of the country or in the world.
These forests serve important economic and social functions and contribute to the livelihood of the local community. But they are threatened by a variety of factors, including climate change, frequent wildfires and illegal exploitation,” he added.
To address environmental challenges and improve sustainability metrics, Teimori said, Iran needs to develop international cooperation focused on technical support, exchanging experience, fundraising and providing regional and scientific cooperation.