Iranian agriculture authorities say plans are in place for tree plantation in 320,000 hectares of lands to respond to a rising demand for timber which is currently being met through extensive imports.
Head of Iran’s Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands (RIFR) said on Saturday that the national tree plantation scheme will be mostly concentrated in the southwestern province of Khuzestan where there is a huge potential for eucalyptus plantation.
Adel Jalili said wood and paper industries in Iran need nearly 18 million metric tons of timber each year.
“Part of the timber needed in industries in the country should be imported due to some specifications but 80 percent of this demand is obtainable domestically through tree plantation,” said Jalili.
The official said most of Iran’s current timber production comes from drylands in the north where logging is mostly banned in forests along the Caspian Sea.
He said that total lands dedicated to dry farming of trees in three northern Iranian provinces are around 67,000 hectares whose output can respond to only to a tiny portion of Iran’s demand for timber.
Jalili added that RIFR has identified 925,000 hectares of lands with the potential for planting trees across Iran, of which more than two thirds are in Khuzestan.
He added, however, that the national plantation scheme would cover a maximum of 320,000 hectares which are mostly lands in Khuzestan where there is enough supplies of urban wastewater.
“If the national tree plantation scheme is taken seriously, it can be carried out in five years rather than 10 years,” he said, adding that the project would be a huge boost to local industries that use timber while it could create jobs and lead to less illegal logging.