Eleven qantas in five provinces were registered on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Qasem Taqizadeh Khamesi, head of the International Center on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures (ICQHS), made the announcement in the 9th meeting of ICQHS governing board held virtually on Nov. 25.
ICQHS and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism played a key role in convincing UNESCO to add the ancient structures on the World Heritage List.
The main reasons for the qanats joining the list are their historical importance, complex system and benefits for the ecosystem.
“Qanats were, are and will be vital for people in arid regions in supplying water for agriculture and permanent settlements”.
Qanats have proved to be extraordinarily valuable and their sustainable traditional technology over centuries have been transferred from ancient Persia where it originated to numerous countries, particularly those with arid and semi-arid climates.
“Now that these qanats are recognized globally, we have a much more important duty not only to preserve the 2,700-year-old structures but also revive them.”
Among the 11 registered qanats, two, namely Qasabeh Qanat of Gonabad and Baladeh Qanat of Ferdows are in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi. From Yazd Province, qanats in Zarch and Hassanabad Moshir joined the WHL.
Gohar-Riz, Akbarabad and Ghassemabad Qanats in Kerman Province, three from Isfahan Province, Moun, the only double-decked qanat in the world and Vazvan and Mozdabad qanats are the other entries. Ebrahimabad Qanat in the central city of Arak is also on the world famous list.
Rehabilitation of qanats has belatedly drawn the attention of water managers and the Energy Ministry, Khamesi who also is director of the National Water and Wastewater Engineering Company of Iran (Abfa) said.
Revival
It is said that policy and decision makers are gradually realizing that environmental sustainability, among other things, demands early and effective action to revive the ancient water systems. “There is reason to believe that officials are finally paying attention to this need after decades.”
There are almost 36,000 qanats in the country, which if revived, can help curb water shortages in many dry regions like the provincial capital city of Yazd.
Giving an example, the senior official said in the 2018-19 crop year close to 170,000 liters of water was taken daily from qanats in Yazd. Located in an arid and semi-arid region, Iran has suffered from drought and extreme water deficits for decades.
Despite relatively good rains in the last two years, officials are concerned with water scarcity and have appealed for judicious consumption, especially in the agriculture sector that continues to waste amazingly huge amounts of the precious resource.
For centuries, human societies in dry lands have overcome the challenge of water scarcity through traditional methods of water harvesting. Qanat technology is one.
Qanat is the generic term for an ancient environmentally sustainable water harvesting and conveyance technique believed to have originated in Persia in the early first millennium B.C.
Established in 2005 and headquartered in Yazd, ICQHS is a UNESCO water-related center whose mission is sharing knowledge and experience, improving information and capacity of qanat technology and other historic hydraulic structures.
Its declared goal is also to help promote the sustainable development of water resources and welfare of communities whose existence depends on the rational exploitation of the resources and preservation of the historical structures.
