The dossier of Arasbaran Forest in East Azarbaijan Province has faced technical issues hindering its inscription in the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites once more.
Mohammad Hassan Talebian, heritage deputy at Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, announced that unluckily, despite Iranian officials' efforts, during the Technical Evaluation process, the International Union for Conservation of Nature deemed Arasbaran as unqualified for the registration.
"The structure of the dossier was very complicated and multi-dimensional, having made it harder for the relevant officials to wrap it up, especially given the extensive range of criteria to be met," ISNA quoted him as saying.
The final status of the documents will be officially announced at UNESCO's 42nd World Heritage Committee Session, to be hosted by Bahrain from June 24 to July 4. According to the official, the complicated diplomatic relations between the member states and Iran will probably influence their final votes.
"However, we will not stop efforts to convince international bodies on the highlighted flaws, whether through professional sessions or consulting with UNESCO committee members," Talebian said.
The official further said the IUCN World Heritage Panel recently convened in Gland, Switzerland to review eight natural areas nominated for potential inscription on the World Heritage List in 2018.
Among the sites, three were in Asia, including Iran's Arasbaran Forests, and two in Europe, while the remaining three are located in North America, South America and Africa.
The UNESCO committee will consider IUCN's advice and make final decisions during its annual session in Bahrain.
Asset of Flora and Fauna
Arasbaran protected area is located in the north of Iran near the border with Armenia and Azerbaijan. The asset covers a total of 57,764 hectares, which includes five small and strictly protected areas surrounded by a larger buffer zone covering more than 105,000 hectares.
Some 780 plant species belonging to 89 families are recorded in the property. Furthermore, three notable tree species are reported to be found in the primary woodlands, namely Caucasian or Persian Oak, Georgian Oak and European or Common Hornbeam.
Reportedly, over 360 vertebrate species, including 56 mammals, 235 birds, 45 reptiles, seven amphibians and 17 fish are recorded in the protected area which represent a high percentage of Iran's fauna (29% of Iran's mammals, 44% of its birds, 20% of reptiles, 32% of amphibians and 9% of fish).
The nomination places much emphasis on its hosting of the rare Persian Leopard. In addition to the leopard, several important mammal species have been reported in the area including the Wild Goat, Wild Boar, Brown Bear and Jungle Cat. Arasbaran also includes a captive breeding program for the Red Deer.
The analyses of IUCN and World Conservation and Monitoring Center confirm that Arasbaran is home to a wider diversity of plants and animals compared to similar sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List, but in overall terms, it has a relatively low level of threatened and endemic species, required for eligibility.
Why Not Eligible
According to IUCN's report of evaluations of natural and mixed properties for the global inscription, the union has examined the claims in Arasbaran's dossier carefully but has been unable to substantiate some of the claims made in the file.
The dossier includes some clear overstatements, for example that "normal regeneration of Persian Leopard subspecies is only found in the nominated property." This is questionable given the wider distribution of Persian Leopards and many expert reviewers doubt the Persian Leopard is present within the property today.
The second point raised by IUCN was the protective issues. Only 7,188 ha (12.4%) of the property is located within the five protected areas, hence, in IUCN's view, the majority of the area lacks adequate legal protection in relation to the protection of species and ecosystems. Reportedly, the dossier also does not specify any more detailed legal regulations, which leaves the nominated property vulnerable to legal interpretations and gaps in applying an effective law enforcement system.
"Arasbaran is surrounded by a larger buffer zone of 105,601 ha, however, it is hard to distinguish it from the nominated property in terms of physical, ecological and land-use," the report says.
World Heritage Committee's Task
The World Heritage Committee is comprised of representatives from 21 states parties to the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage elected by the general assembly of states parties to the convention.
The essential function of the committee is first to identify cultural and natural properties of Outstanding Universal Value which are to be protected under the convention, and inscribe those properties on the World Heritage List.
Second, it is to decide which properties included in the World Heritage List are to be inscribed on or removed from the List of World Heritage in Danger and decide whether a property may be deleted from the WHL.
And finally, the committee is to examine requests for International Assistance financed by the World Heritage Fund.
