Iran Press/ Iran News: The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United Nations observance celebrated each year on 17 June. Its purpose is to raise awareness about desertification and drought, and to highlight methods to prevent desertification and recover from drought.
The ceremony to mark the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought was held in Tehran, with representatives of West Asia's embassies, International Civilization, and a group of researchers and scholars in attendance on Thursday.
The director-general of Iran's Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization, Massoud Mansour, pointed to the challenges posed by the drought and soil erosion facing Iran, including the drying up of aqueducts and the influx of quicksand on roads and railways, and the damage to agricultural land.
He stressed that the Islamic Republic had made many efforts and measures for about five decades to combat desertification and the phenomenon of dust and drought, including planting in 2350 million hectares, applying mulch in 300,000 hectares, and installing live and non-live windbreaks in 38,000 hectares.
Mansour pointed to the effectiveness of measures to combat desertification and said that Iran has been able to protect a total of 87 cities in the country, 7026 km of roads, and 1810 km of railways using rehabilitation measures under protection.
Mansour went on to say that in the second half of the twentieth century, drought and other environmental problems prompted heads of state to gather in Rio to discuss these issues, leading to the formation of three conventions to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on Climate Change.
He continued: "So far 196 countries have become members of the convention, including Iran."
Mansour further suggested that environmental degradation could be prevented by stabilizing wind erosion hotspots with the participation of people and executive bodies and, of course, private sector investors and by strengthening credit resources to moderate land degradation to control hotspots.
Regarding the resolution of the dust phenomenon, Massoud Mansour emphasized the help and cooperation of neighboring countries and said that this regional and global problem could not be controlled and managed alone but requires the participation of neighbors.
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