TEHRAN – The Department of Environment will update regulations in order to boost the participation of people in environmental protection plans.

The regulations on harvesting medicinal plants in such a way as to cause the least damage to nature have been prepared and communicated to all provinces last week, the Department of Environment’s deputy chief Hassan Akbari said on Monday.

“Also, we have updated the guidelines for nature tourism in protected areas in order to attract people's participation.”

Nature tourism is very important in economic prosperity and creating job opportunities for local communities and is a tool to help protect the environment, he stressed.

By the end of the current month (May 21) a least two guidelines for reproducing and breeding of wildlife in captivity will be revised and communicated to the provinces, he highlighted.

On November 17, 2015, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, 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.

President Ebrahim Raisi has highlighted the importance of environmental protection, emphasizing that the preservation of the environment is prior to every development.

Environmental protection will lead to power, security, investment, and production growth in the country, he said.

Both people and NGOs have an effective role to play in the protection of the environment, and they should be given a chance to play their role, he added.

The need to use new technologies and the ability of knowledge-based companies in the field of environment, solving issues and problems related to legal proceedings, attention to domestic and international diplomacy in the field of environment, attention to water transfer in the country from one region to another, attention to the dangers of trawling, attention to environmental water rights and also attention to land management were among the topics that were discussed in this specialized meeting.

In December 2022, Rouhollah Naqdipour, the secretary of the strategic council of the Department of Environment, announced that a roadmap for environmental protection has been developed.

The document presents 13 national macro strategies and 46 cross-sectoral measures for five main environmental challenges, he said, IRNA reported.

The 7-chapter book also suggests reforms for systematic purposeful solutions and policies to solve environmental issues including the water crisis, he explained.

MG