TEHRAN – Some 20 million saplings have been planted across the country in four weeks within the framework of a national plan to plant one billion saplings in four years.

The national plan with the aim of planting up to one billion trees across the country to combat desertification and restore forests commenced on December 2.

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 quoted Reza Ahmadi, an official with the Department of Environment, as saying.

Northern provinces [of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan], Yazd, Khorasan [Razavi], and Khuzestan provinces had the highest number of seedlings planted.

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.

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, 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