Iran’s Deforestation Rate Soars in Past Year
More than 45,000 hectares of Iran's forests were destroyed in 2020-22, Iran Open Data research shows.
According to the Department of Environment data, made available in annual reports and reports by the Statistical Center of Iran, more than 24,000 hectares of forest were destroyed between 2020 and 2021. Over 21,000 hectares of forest were destroyed between 2021 and 2022. This accounts for 70% of the deforestation rate in the past 5 years.
Previously, reports indicated a deforestation rate of 12,000 hectares per year.
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The rate of deforestation in Iran from 2017 to 2022 fluctuated between 0.028% and 0.160%. This rate was 0.141% in 2022.
Among the provinces of Iran, the highest deforestation rates, in 2022, occured in the provinces of Kurdistan, Qom, and Fars followed by West Azerbaijan, Golestan, and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
In terms of the extent of deforestation, Fars province holds the record with the destruction of 13,350 hectares of forests. Following Fars, the provinces of Kurdistan (2,347 hectares), Lorestan (1,369 hectares), Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad (1,082 hectares), and Golestan (967 hectares) have had the highest levels of deforestation.
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Forest fires were the most significant factor contributing to the increase in deforestation in 2021, particularly in the Zagros region. Fars province, with over 2 million hectares of forested land, is the greenest province in Iran. It also accounted for the largest scale of deforestation in the country. Widespread forest fires have likely been a major driver of this trend.
