TEHRAN –National Tree Planting Day was held on Tuesday by planting saplings across the country.

The event is annually celebrated on the fifteenth day of Esfand, the last month on the Iranian calendar, and it marks the beginning of the National Week of Natural Resources. Also, the day has been approved to be registered on the national calendar as ‘Environmental Protection Education Day’.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei planted three saplings, calling tree planting a rewarding and profitable investment.

He said that trees have numerous benefits such as providing more oxygen and dealing with pollutants. So, it is a profitable investment, especially in today’s industrial life where, unfortunately, pollutants have increased.

The Leader also reminded the importance of the connection between man and nature and the preservation of the environment in Islam.

This year, in addition to planting an olive sapling, Ayatollah Khamenei also planted a Lawson cypress sapling and a Persian Ironwood sapling that were locally produced.

Persian Ironwood is native to Mazandaran forests. In addition to using its hardwood for different purposes, its roots and leaves have medicinal properties.

Creating a healthy, lively environment

To mark the day, President Ebrahim Raisi also planted a sapling on this occasion.

Saying that the day marks the importance of planting trees, protecting them, and creating and preserving green space, he added the day is an excuse to remind the significance of paying attention to planting and protecting trees and expanding green space to create a healthy and lively environment for people.

Referring to the national plan to plant up to one billion trees across the country, the president said, the plan has been successful so far, and all the responsible officials have to work hard to follow up on the implementation of the plan nationwide.  

Raisi went on to say that environmental protection is one of the essential requirements of development, as noted in the constitution, and the construction of any factory and workshop that is harmful to the environment and people and causes pollution has to be banned.

“Environmental protection policies and measures must be carefully observed in all areas including water, land, and forests. I hope that all the officials and people pay serious attention to the necessity of protecting the environment, and take up measures such as planting trees to contribute to a healthier environment,” he further noted.

National Tree Planting Day

On November 17, 2015, Ayatollah Khamenei announced the general policies on the environment, emphasizing the need for comprehensive, harmonious, and organized management of vital resources based on ecological capability and sustainability, particularly by increasing capacities and appropriate legal and structural capabilities accompanied by public participation.

Improving environmental conditions with the purpose of helping society enjoy a healthy environment, administering justice and observing intra-generational rights, preventing and prohibiting the circulation of all kinds of unlawful pollutants, recording crimes related to the environment, administering efficient and preventive punishment of polluters and destroyers of the environment and forcing them to compensate for their actions, were also among the policies.

Experts believe that in addition to planting fruit trees, trees that produce wood should be planted because the export of wood has a significant effect on the country's economy, the Leader stressed.

Plan to plant 1 billion trees

The plan is going to be carried out over the course of four years. So, planting some 250 million seedlings is targeted in the first year of the plan, IRIB reported.

On December 30, 2023, Reza Ahmadi, an official with the Department of Environment said, “Since the beginning of the plan, a total of 20 million seedlings have been planted in a four-week period nationwide with the participation of people and organizations,” IRIB reported. 

Preventing the destruction of pastures by cultivating drought-resistant plants is one of the priorities of the Forests, Rangelands, and Watershed Management Organization (FRWMO).

“The implementation of this plan is divided into three parts. Government organizations, industries, and public institutions will be each responsible for one part of the plan,” Abbas-Ali Nobakht, head of the FRWMO, said.

In July 2023, the FRWMO planned to produce and plant one billion saplings across the country over four years.

The Organization is determined to produce and plant one billion saplings with the participation of people benefiting from capacities that exist in the country, Nobakht said.

“Considering the climatic conditions of the country, low per capita green space, and the fact that Iran is among the countries with low forestation rate, we are obliged to produce and plant one billion saplings in a four-year period.”

The expansion of the country's green space and paying more attention to natural resources and the environment is not a new issue, he said, adding that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, the President, and the Minister of Agriculture have always emphasized the need to promote the issue of tree planting and sapling planting.

In this line, mining organizations and industrial companies should be committed to participating in the sapling planting programs, he stressed.

Mostafa Jalili, an official with FRWMO, said in January that a budget amounting to 2.27 trillion rials (about $4.5 million) is projected to be spent on forestation plans.

MT/MG