The wildfires broke out mid-day Tuesday in parts of Hyrcanian forests in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Media reports suggest civil defence personnel and fire fighters are trying to bring the wildfires under control.

Iran Press/Iran News: The wildfires started about noon on Tuesday in the vicinity of Lankaran, in the Republic of Azerbaijan; and according to local reports, firefighters from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, civil defense crews and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan are still battling to contain the fires.

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Iran's Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests; the only remaining of its type in the world

Recently designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO, Hyrcanian Forest extends from the south of Azerbaijan to about 900 km to the east to the northern Iranian provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran, and Golestan. The total area for the Hyrcanian forest in the Azerbaijan Republic is about 20000 hectares.

The Hyrcanian forests cover almost 55 thousands square kilometers near the southern shores of the Caspian Sea

About 2 million hectares of these precious forests are in Iran and about  20000 hectares are in the Republic of Azerbaijan.  

According to some estimates, only in Iran, some 25,000 hectares of Hyrcanian Forest is undergoing fragmentation mostly due to land-use changes for agricultural and residential purposes, wood smuggling and overgrazing. 212/211 

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