Achievements of Lake Urmia Rehabilitation in the way to Rehabilitee Wetlands in Fars Province

The National Manager of the Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project (CIWP) announced a group visit of the wetland staff of Fars province from the achievements of the CIWP "Modeling people's participation in the revitalization of Lake Urmia” project.

Mehri Asnaashari said: following the signing of a three-year joint project of the Department of Environmental and the Government of Japan through the United Nations Development Program, the Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project invited key stakeholders from the wetlands of Fars province to visit the area to share the achievements and experiences of the seven-year project of modeling public participation in lake rehabilitation Urmia.
In this program, representatives of key protection bodies of Bakhtegan Wetland, including, the General Department of Environmental, the regional water company of the province, the General Department of Natural Resources and Watershed Management, Jihad Keshavarzi, representatives of the network of nongovernmental and environmental organizations and representatives sustainable agricultural companies farmer were present.
This visit took place over two days from 7 to 9 June 2021 and on the first day, the guests visited Lake Urmia.
"Currently, Lake Urmia is in a better ecological condition in the southern part due to various measures taken. Also, Artemia orumiana species has resumed its biological activity in this region." Dr. Jabbari, Technical Deputy of the Department of Environmental of West Azerbaijan Province, said during the visit.
In the continuation of the first day of the program, the guests participated in the panel "Sustainable Agriculture" and discussed and exchanged views in this regard. The achievements were paid in Bakhtegan Wetland. After the meeting, those involved in the wetlands of Fars province visited the Museum of Natural History and Biodiversity of West Azerbaijan Province.

Localization of Integrated Wetland Management Program in Fars Province Based on Previous Experiences

Field visit of Fars province stakeholders to Kani Barazan wetland in Mahabad city and sustainable agricultural sites in Miandoab city were part of the second day program. The delegates also visited the Kani Barazan Wetland Online Monitoring System Station.
The visit to Kani Barazan wetland was carried out with the aim of reviewing the status of the local committee and implementing the priority measures of the integrated management program of wetlands in Fars province. In this regard, the main focus of the talks in this part of the visit was the exchange of experiences regarding the activation of structures and committees of ecosystem approach of wetlands, especially Kani Barazan, Bakhtegan, Parishan and other wetlands in West Azerbaijan and Fars provinces.
"The local wetland committee has four main working groups, which meet regularly, and there is no disruption to the work process by changing one person or official," said Farooq Sakhnour, secretary of the Kani Barazan Wetland Ecological Management Committee.

25 to 50% Reduction in Water Consumption in Agriculture

The guests visited the sustainable agricultural sites in Miandoab city, including the tomato farm of Tazeh Kand village and the apple orchard of Khairabad village, in the presence of the representatives of the jihad Keshavarzi of Fars province.
During this visit, the participatory process of implementing a sustainable livelihood plan was explained by one of the farmers and the implementer of the plan. This is a plan in which the farmer plays a pivotal role and the process is not top-down. According to the project monitoring team, water experts of local companies and farmers, the amount of water consumption savings has varied between 25 and 50% in different products.
In this regard, those involved in the wetlands of Fars province visited the livelihood working groups formed under the project of diversification of environmentally friendly livelihoods in the seventh phase. Barani Kurd village, located in Naghadeh city, is one of the pilot villages of the project, in which Ms. Hamzeh, the head of the tailoring working group in the sustainable livelihood project, explained that after getting acquainted with this project and holding workshops, she added new sections. And so far, she has been able to bring in the heads of four other families. 27 people from this village are cooperating with the project in the form of three active working groups in this tailoring, local chicken breeding and mushroom production.