TEHRAN – A budget of 9 trillion rials (nearly $2.1 million at the official rate of 42,000 rials) has been earmarked to revive the Gulf of Gorgan in the Caspian Sea, northern Iran.

Covering an area of about 400 square kilometers, the Gulf of Gorgan also known as Gorgan Bay is the largest gulf in the Caspian Sea. It is located at the south-eastern shore of the Caspian Sea near the cities of Behshahr, Gorgan, and Sari and is separated from the main water body by the Miankaleh peninsula and extends until the Ashuradeh peninsula.

An amount of 9 trillion rials (nearly $2.1 million at an official rate of 42,000 rials) was approved from the resources, Golestan province’s governor-general, Hadi Haghshenas, said.

He went on to say that the Ports and Maritime Organization, the Department of Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Energy are tasked with taking executive measures to save Gorgan Bay within 5 years.

According to the oceanographic studies, the most important solution to save Gorgan Bay is dredging canals, he noted.

Also, dredging the rivers leading to the Gulf of Gorgan and providing water rights of the rivers will be other executive strategies to save the Gulf, Haghshenas stated.

Referring to the drying up of 10,000 hectares of Gulf of Gorgan, he said that if no action is taken to revitalize the gulf, it will be threatened like Lake Urmia and the cities around the bay will be affected by sand and dust storms.

Gorgan Bay was designated as a Ramsar site (defined by the Ramsar Convention for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and recreational value) along with Miankaleh Wetland.

The bay and its surrounding area are recognized as a valuable ecological complex in the world which had a direct impact on the livelihood of local communities in addition to conserving the marine life cycle.

Ashuradeh Island, which hosts a variety of native and migratory birds throughout the year, was also introduced and registered as one of the world's first biosphere zones in 1975.

FB/MG