TEHRAN –A total budget of 170 billion rials (nearly $607,000) has been allocated to curb wildfire which has increased significantly in protected areas in the current Iranian calendar year, compared to previous years.

The Department of Environment (DOE) protects 26.5 million hectares, equivalent to 19.6 percent of the country’s lands, under the title of four protected areas, which are among the valuable reserves that are bearing irreparable damages caused by wildfire.

According to statistics, in the first 5 months of the last [Iranian calendar] year (March 2021-March 2022), about 6,272 hectares were burnt by a wildfire, but in the first 5 months of this year, 867 hectares were haunted by fire.

So, these valuable areas should be protected with more seriousness and detailed planning, which requires having the necessary equipment for fire extinguishing, and the DOE has allotted more credit this year compared to previous years.

A sum of 170 billion rials (nearly $607,000) has been allocated to fight wildfires in protected areas; which was only 30 billion rials (nearly $107,000) a year ago.

In terms of number, 184 fires occurred last year, which reached 102 this year. This year, the knowledge of the people and the forces were better regarding firefighting, and the drought had caused the vegetation conditions of forests and pastures to be weaker and less prone to wildfire.

Because there is less livestock grazing in protected areas than in other areas, and the vegetation cover is more, hence they are more prone to fire.

In provinces of Fars and Mazandaran, and in general, in provinces that have many forest and pasture areas, more fires occur. Some provinces, like the central and eastern provinces, are less involved in fires.

Jamshid Mohabbat Khani, commander of the protection unit of the DOE, pointing out that wildfires are mostly caused by unintentional human error, said that over 90 percent of wildfires are ignited by humans unintentionally while setting fires in nature, smoking, and releasing plastic and glass containers.

Every fire causes a lot of damage to the environment and ecosystem; It is not only the plants that are destroyed but also the living organisms that are trapped in the fire, he lamented.

Insufficient human forces to protect natural resources

In order to protect the country's environment well, the number of rangers should increase by 10 times, Hassan Akbari, deputy head of natural environment and biodiversity of the Department of Environment, has said.

In the country, there is currently one environmental protection force for every 30,000 to 40,000 hectares of protected areas, while usually there should be one force for 1,000 to 3,000 hectares, so to preserve our biological assets, we must take steps to recruit more rangers.

“Currently, 3,600 rangers are in charge of defending the protected areas, and the number should reach at least 8,000. There are over 600 [environment protection] stations in the country, 100 of which are inactive due to the lack of manpower.”

In September 2021, Jamshid Mohabbat-Khani, commander of the protection unit of the Department of Environment, said that the DOE has recruited 500 rangers over the past two years to enhance environmental protection, Mehr reported.

It is planned to hire 2,500 rangers for the environment departments in 10 years, he added.

FB/MG