The Government of Japan Continues Helping with the Revival of Lake Urmia

The national manager of Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project announces the continuation of cooperation and collaboration by the Government of Japan for the seventh consecutive year in the basin area of Lake Urmia.

Ali Arvahi, The national manager of Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project appreciated the constant cooperation by the Government of Japan in the attempts for reviving Lake Urmia, and reported that the Plan for the Seventh Phase of the project ‘Modeling Public Participation for Revival of Lake Urmia’ was signed by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Vice-Presidency of Maritime and Wetland Environment in the Iranian Department of Environment.
“Fortunately, at the moment, Lake Urmia, with a level of 1271.68 meters and an area of 3080 square kilometers, is at its best state compared to the previous six years, and this is thanks to the unrelenting efforts of authorities and administrators in Lake Urmia Restoration Program, as well as all public and private stakeholders in the basin of Lake Urmia”, he noted.
Also, Arvahi added that “the Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project (CIWP), as a shared project between the Iranian Department of Environment and the UNDP, and with the financial support of the Government of Japan, has implemented the project ‘Modeling Public Participation for Revival of Lake Urmia’ since 2014 as one of the CIWP’s activities in 41 villages in Eastern and Western Azerbaijan Provinces, and the experiences obtained in this project have been expanded to 150 villages.”
He also mentioned some of the important outcomes of this project during recent years as “increased interdepartmental collaboration, promotion of social responsibility, and eliciting the participation of local communities for reviving Lake Urmia.”  
“So far, more than 12 thousand people from local communities and farmers in the basin of Lake Urmia has been trained for and participate in the implementation of this project”, he noted.
Some other outcomes of this project are as follows:
•    25.4 percent reduction in water consumption and 41.9 percent increase in irrigation efficiency;
•    Number of job opportunities created: 250 local experts;
•    The number of local companies and NGOs working with the project: 30 companies and 12 NGOs;
•    Creation of green employment for more than 750 female villagers through the establishment of a rural micro-credit fund.
Ali Arvahi considers the successful and positive results and outcomes of the project as the consequence of interdepartmental collaboration, as well as cooperation between various national and international organizations including the Iranian Department of Environment, the Organization of Agricultural Jihad, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Government of Japan, Lake Urmia Restoration Program, The Regional Water Organization, NGOs, and local communities in Eastern and Western Azerbaijan Provinces.