TEHRAN –The head of the Department of Environment (DOE), Shina Ansari, has announced Iran's willingness to boost cooperation with Japan in the field of environment.

“As environmental issues including global warming are transboundary, it necessitates enhancing international collaborations,” Ansari stressed, “We welcome collective thinking and any joint activity to tackle climate change and reduce carbon emissions.”

She made the remarks in a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to Tehran, Tamaki Tsukada, on Wednesday, IRNA reported.

The Iranian official expressed the country's interest in benefiting from Japan's knowledge and expertise in technologies related to the environment.

Referring to former memorandums of understanding (MOUs), she highlighted the need to implement the MOUs by taking effective measures.

The official further noted that achieving desired goals requires continuous cooperation rather than adopting short-term measures.

Tsukada, for his part, highlighted the possibilities for fostering cooperation between the two countries, referring to Japan’s capabilities in managing wetlands, marine environment, desertification, as well as sand and dust storms.

The Japanese official said the restoration of Lake Urmia is one of the issues that requires enhancing ties. 

In reference to the Anzali wetland project, Tsukada said Japan is ready to assess the projects that have been so far implemented and empower the country through environmental education. 

“Japan is also interested in expanding cooperation with Iran on air pollution,” the official noted.

Boosting environmental co-op

Visiting the Japanese Embassy in Iran on the occasion of Japan’s National Day in February, Ali Salajeqeh, former head of the DOE said, “Bilateral relations and cooperation between Iran and

Japan can be broadened, especially in environmental fields.”

The conservation and restoration projects of Anzali Wetland and Lake Urmia are two typical examples of the joint actions taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Japan in the environmental fields, IRIB quoted Salajeqeh as saying.

The cooperation is expected to continue towards capacity-building, modern technologies, and knowledge-sharing for waste management, protection of wetlands, prevention of dust storms, pollution control, and climate change, the official added.

“The friendly relationship between the two countries shows that there are many capacities for the development of bilateral relations and expansion of cooperation in the regional and international arenas,” he further noted.

Lake Urmia restoration program

The lake’s restoration program was established in 2013 and aims to restore the lake within a 10-year program. The contribution is being implemented as a component of UNDP’s ongoing Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project – a joint project between Iran’s Department of Environment and UNDP.

Lake Urmia in the northwestern West Azarbaijan province started to dry up in the 2000s. The lake is the largest lake in West Asia and the sixth-largest Salt Lake in the world with a water surface area of 5,000 to 6,000 square kilometers.

Since 2014, together with the Government of Japan, UNDP has been supporting Lake Urmia restoration efforts. The project covers 202 villages in northwestern East and West Azarbaijan provinces.

In February 2021, the Government of Japan contributed $3 million to help revive Lake Urmia through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). This was Japan’s eighth contribution to UNDP Iran.

In 2023, Claudio Providas, the UNDP resident representative in Iran, said that sanctions have had no effect on providing financial support to protect Iran’s wetlands and revive Lake Urmia, in particular.

Providas pointed out that the Japanese government, as the financial sponsor of the project, continues to provide aid.

“Over the past 10 years, Japan has made generous contributions to the global plan to protect Iran’s wetlands and has contributed one million dollars annually, which is quite acceptable,” he said.

He continued: “In the last 5 years, Iran has tried different strategies to save Lake Urmia and has been trying to find out whether it should follow the same previous methods to restore the lake or it needs to try out new solutions.”

“During the last decade, the financial aid of the Japanese government has protected Iran’s wetlands and this plan has had some achievements. However, it should be noted that Japan’s aid by itself was not expected to save Iran’s wetlands or even Lake Urmia,” he added.

Conservation of wetlands

Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project aims to focus on better management of wetlands in accordance with climate change, improving the management of natural resources, and highlighting the role of public participation and raising awareness.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has supported the Iranian government in conservation of the Anzali Wetland since 2003 through “The Study on Integrated Management for Ecosystem Conservation of the Anzali Wetland (2003-2005)” and “Anzali Wetland Ecological Management Project (2007-2008, 2011-2012)”.

In 2006, DOE and the JICA signed a two-year agreement to start the Anzali Wetland Ecological Management Project to save the deteriorating Anzali wetland in the northern province of Gilan.

Covering more than 19,000 hectares, Anzali Wetland is located near the northern port city of Bandar Anzali, neighboring the Caspian Sea. The wetland was designated as a Ramsar site on June 23, 1975. It is fed by several rivers and separated from the Caspian Sea by a dune system.

The lagoon is home to submerged and floating vegetation and also extensive reed beds. It bears international importance in terms of breeding, staging, and wintering waterbirds.

Anzali Wetland has suffered huge sediment and sludge accumulation due to the entrance of domestic and agricultural sewage from five surrounding cities, which resulted in a decrease in the wetland’s depth and capacity along with threatening biodiversity.

One of the most important concerns regarding Anzali Wetland is a constant drop in depth which was 11 meters before while shrinking to 1 meter or even 50 centimeters in recent years.

In July 2023, according to the reports, the Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project (CIWP), a joint initiative between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Government of Japan, led to saving water by 27 percent for irrigation in the country.

The three-year (2021-2024) cooperation between the DoE, Japan, and UNDP Iran has been initiated to up-scale successful practices to additional pilots in the Urmia Lake basin and two new replication sites including Shadegan and Bakhtegan Wetlands. 

MT/MG