One hundred and thirty hectares of Iran’s northern forests have been swapped, converting them into tea gardens over the past 30 years, Iran Daily reported Saturday.
Head of Range Lands and Forests Organization Seyyed Hamid Kalantari was quoted by the daily as saying that, “in 1967, northern forests totaled 1.9 million hectares while current statistics indicate that forests have been reduced to 1.7 million hectares.”
Kalantari attributed the shortage and reduction of the trees, which could be balanced by planting new ones to illegal dealings in wood.
“Special headquarters have been established in Gilan and the adjacent provinces for fighting wood smuggling,” Kalantari told the daily – Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
