An estimated 2.5 trillion rials ($70 million) is needed every year to stop harvesting timber from Iran’s depleting northern forests, according to a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture. “We have prepared a comprehensive plan to curb logging which will go into effect as soon as the funds are available,” said the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Khodakaram Jalali. The plan is expected to take between five to 10 years to produce results, IRNA reported. It will limit logging to 1 million hectares of designated forestland, which contain damaged and diseased trees, as stipulated in a 2013 government directive. “The plan will help protect forests and train people in the values of forest management,” said Jalali, who doubles as head of the Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization. He said timber companies too must do their part to protect forests, which includes planting saplings and repairing access roads. In turn they will be allowed to harvest timber in designated areas.
