A fire ravages Iranian forests listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List

Forests, extending for about 1,000 kilometers along the Caspian Sea in Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan, "A unique mass of forest" According to UNESCO, this is due to its antiquity, as it is between 25 and 50 million years old, and its biological diversity, as it includes more than 3,200 species of plants.

The Iranian Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported on Saturday that A firethat broke out in the area on November 1 was brought under control a few days later. But it flared up again strongly on the 15th of the month.

Mohammad Jaafar Qaimbaneh, Iranian Vice President Masoud Pezeshkian, wrote on Friday on the XN platform: "In light of the impossibility of containing the fire and preventing its spread to the surrounding forests, Iran requested urgent assistance from friendly countries"

Sheena Ansari, head of the Iranian Environmental Protection Organization, said on Saturday: "Türkiye will send two water-spraying aircraft, a helicopter, and eight personnel"

She added in a statement to official television "If necessary, we will ask Russia for help as well".

Tasnim News Agency reported that the fire "From an active verb"It is believed that fishermen set it on fire in the rocky Illit area of ​​Mazandaran Province, northern Iran.
Media reported that eight hectares were burned.

The fire broke out at a time when Iran is facing one of the worst droughts since meteorological records began six decades ago.

Hossein Ali Mohammadi, General Director of Crisis Management in Mazandaran Province, said that the process of extinguishing the fire is "One of the most complex operations we have encountered in recent years"

Iran’s Hyrcanian forests, named after the Hyrcania region south of the Caspian Sea, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019. The United Nations agency confirms on its website that these forests contain… "A large number of rare and endemic tree species"And it’s home "Many plant species from the remains of endangered plants"

Kawah Madani, an Iranian scientist who works for the United Nations, expressed his regret, saying: "Iranians are losing a natural heritage older than Persian civilization". Madani served as Iranian Deputy Minister of Environment between 2017 and 2018.