Mazandaran - The head of Iran’s Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization underscored the need for collective action and coordinated efforts to protect the country’s UNESCO-registered Hyrcanian Forests in the northern province of Gilan.

 

Speaking at a meeting of the Forest Affairs Department in Chalus, Reza Aflatooni described the Hyrcanian forests as both a national treasure and a vital natural heritage - the guardians of Iran’s soil, water, and climate.

 

He stressed that their protection is not merely an institutional obligation but a shared national responsibility that can only succeed through solidarity, scientific vision, and inclusive cooperation.

 

Aflatooni noted that Iran’s forests have faced significant climatic, managerial, and legal challenges over the past decades.

 

He emphasized that it is now time to reexamine current management and technical practices, learn from past experiences, and apply modern scientific knowledge to secure the sustainable future of the country’s forest ecosystems.

 

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture Jihad added that the organization is pursuing an integrated, science-driven strategy to protect northern forests and expand forest cover in other regions.

 

He said the plan will leverage the capacities of universities, research institutions, local communities, and partner organizations to achieve long-term forest conservation goals.

 

Hyrcanian Forest (also known as Caspian Forest), extends from the south of Azerbaijan to about 900 km to the east to the Iranian northern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan. This forest forms the outermost boundary of the west-Eurasian nemoral deciduous forests to alpine thorn cushion corridors and forest-free dry vegetation of the Iranian highlands and Central Asia.

 

The Hyrcanian Forest cover the northern slope of the Alborz Mountain in Iran at the southern edge of the Caspian Sea and it contains very rich ecosystems due to the particular orographic and climatic situation (precipitation rich, warm-temperate, high moisture from the Caspian Sea and damming effect of the Alborz Mountain range).

 

According to UNSESO, the forest contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation. It also contains superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

 

It is outstanding examples in the record of significant on-going geological processes in the development of landforms and significant geomorphic or physiographic features. It is also outstanding example representing significant ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, ecosystems and communities of plants.