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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iran
Index
Some of Iran's forest resources were nationalized under
Mohammad Reza Shah's development plans, beginning in 1963. Since
then, the state has gradually gained control over forest use. The
plentiful commercial timber in the Alborz and Zagros mountains was
diminished by illegal cutting that did not show up in official
statistics; approximately 6.5 million cubic meters were cut in 1986
alone. Of an estimated 18 million hectares of forest lands, only
about 3.2 million hectares near the Caspian Sea can be regarded as
commercially productive.
Plentiful rainfall, a mild climate, and a long growing season
have combined to create a dense forest of high-quality timber in
the Caspian region. There is an extensive growth of temperate-zone
hardwoods, including oak, beech, maple, Siberian elm, ash, walnut,
ironwood, alder, basswood, and fig. About half of the Caspian
forests consists of these trees; the remainder is low-grade scrub.
The Zagros Mountains in the west and areas in Khorasan and Fars
provinces abound in oak, walnut, and maple trees. Shiraz is
renowned for its cypresses.
To curtail indiscriminate forest destruction, the government in
1967 moved to nationalize all forests and pastures. A forest
service was established; by 1970 more than 3,000 forest rangers and
guards were employed, and 1.3 million saplings had been planted on
526,315 hectares of land. The value of exported forest products was
six times greater in 1973 than in 1984; the decrease in exports
probably resulted from increased domestic and war-related
consumption.
Data as of December 1987
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