Department of Environment announced the deadline for domestic car manufacturers to standardize the level of their engine exhaust emissions, according to ISNA.
Deputy head of the department, Yousef Hojjat, made the remark, adding that Peugeot RD and Paykan pickup will have until late September and Zamyad and Van Caravan until late December to meet the pollution standards, and vehicles with Z24 engines to be equipped with fuel injectors. Otherwise, no license plate numbers will be issued for the vehicles.
“The DoE and the ministries of oil and industries have jointly submitted a proposal to the cabinet for upgrading the environmental standards for light and heavy vehicles to Euro-3 as of 2010 and to Euro-4 as of 2012,“ he observed.
In related news, ILNA quoted Hojjat as saying that 400 CNG-fueled buses manufactured by Iran Khodro Diesel Company joined Tehran’s public transport fleet recently.
“Presently, 1,600 gas-powered buses are in service in Tehran, which are expected to increase to 2,000 by March 2006,“ Hojjat mentioned.
“In a recent cabinet session, it was decided that 200,000 rundown vehicles would be phased out by the yearend (March 20). The proposal to build 400 new CNG stations also won the cabinet approval.“
Hojjat recalled that Iran’s accession to Kyoto Protocol was approved by the Council of Guardians. The protocol only obliges the advanced countries to reduce greenhouse gases in their own as well as in developing countries. Therefore, by joining the protocol, Iran will face no obligation but to cooperate with these countries, he explained.

Six dolphins are being kept in Kish Dolphinarium.

A third sea lion was born on July 9 at the dolphinarium of the southern Persian Gulf Kish Island, ISNA reported.
Director of the dolphinarium, Ali Houshmand, said both the mother and the pup were in good health, although the mother had experienced a difficult labor.
He explained that the mother and the pup had to be left together for a period of 48 hours, so they could develop a postpartum relationship and the mother could initiate lactation.
“In case the newborn pup rejects the breastfeeding, we’ll have to feed it artificially. About 20 packs of cream will be needed daily. Apart from being a costly process, artificial feeding will be time-consuming and difficult for the manually prepared milk needs to be tested for the amount of nutrients including fat and protein,“ he stated.
Kish Dolphinarium is the first center keeping marine mammals in Iran. Presently, five penguins, 14 sea lions, six dolphins, and a few alligators are being kept in the complex which is unique in the Middle East.
Houshmand also explained that the park’s butterfly garden and exotic birds garden shall be inaugurated in the near future.
“So far, 30 bird species have been collected for the garden which is expected to become complete within the next two months. Among the birds are acrobatic parrots which will perform to amuse the visitors,“ he explained.

Spades make it possible to transplant trees without disturbing the root ball.

Parks and Green Areas Organization affiliated to the Tehran Municipality has purchased special equipment for transplanting large trees, eliminating the need to remove them from development or construction sites.
Director of the organization, Ali Mohammad Mokhtari, said the tree spades will make it possible to transplant trees without disturbing the root ball during different seasons.
“The spades come in six difference sizes, making it possible to safely dig up and move five- to 50-year-old trees in different calibers,“ he explained, noting administrative formalities for importing the equipment, which have cost the municipality more than 500 million rials each, are in process.
The equipment will help dig up the trees with their roots intact and transplant them in alternative locations.
He insisted that the municipality is against any attempts to harm or cut down trees and would take legal action against violators.
The official gave assurances that not even a single tree had been cut down in the course of construction of Zeineddin Highway in Niavaran, north of Tehran, insisting all trees impeding construction operations would be safely moved elsewhere.
The news came in the wake of controversies over the felling of a large number of giant white mulberry trees in Kan area, northwest of Tehran, in recent days.
Cultural Heritage News reported that about 50 large mulberry trees were cut down in an area of 25,000 square meters in attempts to flatten the garden for construction of residential units for the personnel of Tehran Municipality District Five.
Reacting to the news, the district’s mayor, Ghaffouri, told CHN that action would be taken against the director of the Housing Cooperative Agency who ordered the removal of trees without holding the permits to do so.
He, however, argued that had the cooperative obtained permits for felling the mulberry trees earlier, the process would have been completely legal.
“The prosecution is only a question of holding municipality permits and has nothing to do with the attempts to construct a residential complex in the area,“ Ghaffouri was quoted as saying.

Arasbaran has been categorized as one of the biosphere reserves in UNESCO's Program on Man and the Biosphere.

East Azarbaijan Department of Environment is conducting plans to revive the local red deer, maral, which became extinct in Arasbaran forests years ago, the Persian daily Iran reported.
Arasbaran forests are regarded as one of the world’s unique wildlife habitats. Arasbaran, is a mountainous area with its elevation ranging between 250 and 2,900 meters above the see level. It is in north of Azarbaijan province and very close to the Caspian Sea. The difference in altitude within a small geographical area has given rise to a rich biodiversity in the region.
An expert with East Azarbaijan Department of Environment said Arasbaran region boasts 712 flora, 215 bird, 29 reptile, 48 mammal and 17 fish species.
Mohammad Reza Masoud named goat, gray bear, boar, wolf and leopard as notable species living in the area. It is also home to one of the world’s rare bird species known as the Caucasian black grouse.
Arasbaran has been categorized as one of the biosphere reserves in the UNESCO’s Program on Man and the Biosphere (MAB).
Masoud added that reviving the species, maral, in the region can set an example for similar programs to revive extinct animals.
Chief of Kalibar Environment Department, Mohammad Ali Zamanlou, recalled that maral had been exposed to extinction since 60 years ago.
“It was decided that the species be revived within a 25-year scheme first in a four-hectare pilot project and then expanded in an area of 550 hectares.“
He referred to numerous problems in achieving the set goals including financial shortfalls. “We squandered 10 years of that period,“ he complained.
Maral is of the Caucasian red deer type. “However, given the political crises in that region, it was not possible to use the Caucasian deer for reproduction in Arasbaran. Therefore, seven Caspian marals were moved from Golestan National Park to an area of seven hectares in Arasbaran. The deer reproduced to reach 17 in 2004.“
Given the difference in environmental conditions, he predicted that the Caspian maral would need a long time before it can adapt itself to the Arasbaran ecosystem.

A view of Damavand summit, Polour village, Mazandaran province (Photo by Oshin D. Zakarian)

High pollution levels in the Maharlou Lake of Shiraz have sharply declined thanks to protective measures adopted in recent years, director general of Fars Department of Environment said.
Majid Abadi blamed sewage emissions by large and small industrial units in Shiraz for most of the pollution, and stressed the water pollution had dropped substantially after the units were equipped with sewage treatment systems or connected to the urban sewerage network.
“Large factories including Shiraz Vegetable Oil Co., Zamzam soft drinks manufacturer, as well as starch producing units used to discharge their wastewater directly into the lake, but have now been supplied with sewage treatment systems,“ he added.
The official further explained that 63 percent of major industrial units in the province are already provided with sewage treatment equipment, while installation of similar systems are near completion in the remaining units.
“Excessive construction of industrial units, which produce a large amount of wastewater, has been banned in Shiraz in recent years and most such factories have been relocated to industrial townships,“ said Abadi.
He also recalled that formerly all hospitals in Shiraz used to discharge their wastewater into the lake. “Whereas now, 14 hospitals have their own treatment systems, and 12 others dispose of their sewage via the urban network. Another 22 hospitals either collect and dispose of their wastewater by trucks or release them into absorption wells,“ he explained.
Abadi also stressed new funds were needed for following up environmental issues and completely removing pollution from Maharlou Lake.

Growing numbers of white storks are staying in southern Portugal year-round instead of making their annual migration to wintering grounds in Africa to the delight of local residents who encourage the birds to build nests near their homes.
Conservationists said warmer winters caused by global warming and better feeding opportunities in Portugal had led many of the long-necked birds to stop flying across the Mediterranean each year.
“With the introduction of crayfish into Portuguese rivers a few years ago, the storks began to find food here throughout the winter,“ a scientist with the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds, Goncalo Rosa, told AFP.
Two decades ago white storks, which also feed on frogs, rodents and large insects, were at risk of disappearing from Portugal due to widespread pesticide use and the drainage of wetlands which reduced their foraging habitat.
But the arrival of the crayfish has led to an increase in the overall number of the birds, which prefer lowland habitats of wet pastures, shallow lakes and marshes and can forage in freshly-plowed fields.
Last year environmentalists counted 7,700 breeding pairs of white storks in Portugal, up from some 1,500 in the mid-1980s.
“There was a huge drop in the number of storks between the end of the 1950s and the 1980s. Today the number of storks in the country is at the level that existed five decades ago,“ said Rosa.
The birds’ nests, constructed of branches, grass, rags and paper, can be found on chimneys, rooftops and electrical polls across the Alentejo, the sparsely populated province of rolling hills which is home to more than half of Portugal’s white storks.
The nests can grow to over two meters in diameter and nearly three meters in depth and are a headache for power firms because of the damage they can do to high-voltage electricity pylons.
“People set up platforms made of metal or wood in their gardens to accommodate the storks’ nests,“ said Joao Paulo Martins, a director of Portugal’s main conservation group, Quercus.
Storks however nest closely together with several other pairs and usually prefer the flat tops of telephone or electricity poles which are in ample supply in the region.

Sandstorm is the most prevalent natural phenomenon in Yazd province, of all the 39 known domestic disasters, IRNA wrote.
Deputy governor general for development affairs, Seyyed Alireza Nabavizadeh, continued, “Studies suggest that 250 grams of dust and particles amass in each square meter of Yazd area annually--a figure which signifies the intensity of wind erosion here.“
He recalled the 2004 massive sandstorms which inflicted 130 billion rials in damages on local agriculture, greenhouse farming in particular.
“Also sandstorms disrupt traffic on a section of the Tehran-Bandar Abbas route which passes through Yazd province,“ he observed.
He insisted that afforestation schemes were the responsibility of the government and stressed the urgent need for anti-desertification funds.
“Close to 660,000 hectares of desert areas across Yazd have been recognized as critical zones with regard to wind erosion. This means anti-desertification activities must be concentrated in these areas because they give rise to sandstorms,“ he analyzed.
Yazd province is stretched across 131,000 square kilometers, more than half of which is covered with desert and sand hills.