17 provinces face an increased risk of expansion of their drylands.

Head of Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Organization said that total damages from wind erosion in Iran exceed one trillion rials per annum.
As reported by IRNA, Khodakaram Jalali told a press conference in Shahr-e Kurd, Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari province that 130 desert areas, sprawled over an area of six million hectares, are currently in dire need of anti-desertification projects.
According to him, at present, 17 provinces face an increased risk of expansion of their drylands. Some 30 billion rials has been set aside in the year started March 21 to spend on programs to prevent further encroachment of deserts.
Jalali noted that the average annual precipitation level is one-third of the global rainfall rate; while water evaporation is triple the amount of other countries.
The official, who is also deputy agriculture jihad minister, stated that domestic firewood consumption stands at 10 million cubic meters annually.
Jalali observed that forest dwellers and other users of natural resources should be provided with alternative fuels to slash demand for firewood.
He cited the Fourth Five-Year Development Plan based on which 500,000 hectares of land have to be tree-planted and 100,000 hectares of woodlands have to be rejuvenated by 2010.
Turning to excessive grazing of livestock in pastures, Jalali noted that only 25 million hectares out of the 85 million hectares of domestic rangelands are suitable for livestock grazing, whereas the number of livestock is three times the capacity of pastures.

Towers which were placed in Anzali International Wetland six years ago as part of the project to build the Caspian cityÕs beltway will be removed thanks to efforts by Gilan Department of Environment, ISNA reported.
Director general of the department, Kamran Zolfinejad, explained that the Ministry of Roads and Transportation will remove the towers planted in the wetland using a vessel.
Six years ago, the ministry launched a project to build a 16-km beltway in Anzali, three kilometers of which were to pass by the wetland. The department opposed the project, insisting the three-kilometer route would menace the regional ecosystem.
The official cited a decision by the cabinet urging the ministry to redirect the route. The department is now to determine the route that would inflict the least environmental harm.
Meanwhile, deputy governor general of Gilan for development affairs said the project to construct Anzali beltway was brought to a standstill in 1999 due to environmental concerns.
Thanks to efforts by the then department chief, Shaabanali Nezami, the project was suspended.
Mohammad Jafar Alizadeh elaborated that scientific studies are underway to designate an alternate route.
The official recalled that as per an agreement between the ministry and the department, other environmentally safe operations are being carried out.
Alizadeh stressed that the towers had been temporarily placed in the wetland to be used by cranes for construction of the bridge. ÒSince the route is to be redirected, these temporary towers are no longer needed,Ó he added.

Fishing pearl oysters of the Pinctada fucata (painted pearl shell) species was banned in Bandar Lengeh, west of Hormuzgan province, up to the yearend (March 20), IRNA said.
The initiative was taken in a bid to help preserve the pearl oyster reserves of the Persian Gulf which have been shrinking in recent years.
Head of the cityÕs Fishery Department called for the assistance and attention of local fishermen toward the environmental restriction.
Hossein Rias observed, ÒBandar Lengeh has for centuries been the center of the pearl oyster fishery both domestically and across the region. Pearls obtained from the region are globally famous.Ó
He continued, ÒEach year, divers go pearling during summer. But the shell reserves have diminished and the quality of pearls has deteriorated.Ó
Researchers with the Persian Gulf Molluscs Fisheries Research Station in Bandar Lengeh have acknowledged a decline in the quality and quantity of the total pearl catch, he added.
Rias went on, ÒWarning that over-fishing would put extra pressure on pearl reserves in the Persian Gulf, experts have demanded that pearl oyster fishing be banned or restricted.Ó
He recalled that more than 4,700 pearls worth 26.2 million rials had been obtained in Bandar Lengeh last year, indicating a 97-percent decline compared to previous yearsÕ catches.
There are two species namely the Pinctada margaritifera (also known as black-lip) and Pinctada fucata (painted pearl shell) in Persian Gulf waters along Bandar Lengeh which are hunted via traditional methods.
According to him, divers go into a depth of 10-15 meters in the hunt for pearl-bearing mollusks without using diving accessories.

The first oceanology base affiliated to the National Oceanology Center was constructed in the eastern coast of the port of Chabahar near the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean, IRNA wrote.
Breaking the news, Vahid Chegini, head of the center, said the base will make use of cutting-edge research methodology to collect technical and scientific marine information.
"The research base will play a significant role in establishing a valuable databank at the national, domestic and international levels along the Oman Sea and the Indian Ocean," he said.
Referring to the strategic and geopolitical situation of Iran, providing access to the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Caspian Sea waters, Chegini said the base could largely contribute to economic development and national security.
"We should try to exploit the domestic waters as an axis of development," he said.
Chegini noted the base will conduct research in different fields including physics, chemistry, biology and engineering as well as economic and legal issues surrounding seas and oceans.
Chabahar Oceanology Base, with a total area of 7,200 sq.m. and a built-up area of 2,000 sq.m., has been equipped with state-of-the-art laboratories in marine physics, chemistry, biology and geology.
According to Chegini, 13 billion rials have been expended on construction of this base which will officially start work in late September.

A bird expert with the Department of Environment unveiled that a databank containing information about waterfowls migrating to Iran during winter will be launched.
Mohammad Reza Sehhati told ISNA that the databank will make available information about diversity, number and density of birds migrating to different habitats within the country.
He added that the date for assessment of each bird sanctuary, the habitatÕs name and the bird species plus their photos will also be included.

Twenty-three squirrels of the rare Baluchi species, with the scientific name Funambulus pennantii, have been spotted in Chabahar, Nikshahr and Sarbaz towns of Sistan-Baluchestan province. (IRNA Photo)

A total 10 kilometers of Zarjoub and Goharroud rivers in Rasht, Gilan province, have been completely dredged.

Rasht Municipality is conducting dredging operations in the polluted rivers of Zarjoub and Goharroud in the capital city of Gilan province.
Deputy Rasht mayor for urban services, Ahmad Khosravi told IRNA that dredging operations had been completed along a total 10 kilometers of both rivers.
According to the official, 20 billion rials is set aside for the project to collect sludge and clean waste dumped in the vicinity of the two rivers stretched along 23 kilometers.
He added that heavy rainfall submerging lands in the riversÕ immediate environs slows down the project.
Khosravi predicted that both rivers would be completely dredged by late September provided climatic conditions are favorable.
The official called on head of Gilan Department of Environment to help prevent the discharge of chemical materials into the rivers.
Zarjoub is one of the countryÕs most polluted rivers. Pollution resulted by the emission of household waste has destroyed marine life in the river altogether.
Experts believe that dredging and cleaning of the two rivers will have positive environmental outcomes for the Anzali Wetland. Zarjoub flows into the internationally significant wetland.

Tigers now reside in only 7 percent of their historic range--40 percent less than a decade ago.

Worldwide tiger population has steadily declined to about 7,500 globally, the World Wildlife Fund said, AP wrote.
Tiger habitats worldwide have shrunk 40 percent in the past decade and their survival depends on cracking down on poaching, working to reduce conflicts with humans, and protecting key ranges, according to a study.
The worldwide tiger population has steadily declined to about 7,500 globally, and the big cats continue to face a myriad of threats--including the trade in tiger parts to meet demand for traditional medicines in China and Southeast Asia.
Tigers now reside in only 7 percent of their historic range--40 percent less than a decade ago, the World Wildlife Fund said.
The study by a coalition of conservation groups identified for the first time 76 areas, mostly in Asia, that have the best chance of supporting tiger populations. "Many important areas have been overlooked for funding, largely because there has been no method to systematically identify areas of high conservation potential," the study said. About half of the 76 areas can support 100 tigers and "offer excellent opportunities for the recovery of wild tiger populations."
Researchers are focusing on a few key regions in India, Russia's far east and parts of Southeast Asia. Tiger breeding areas must be protected and efforts to link different tiger habitats need to be improved, the study said.
"We have learned many important lessons over the last 10 years, and this study provides a blueprint for scientists and the countries that hold the key for the tigers' survival," said Mahendra Shrestha, director of National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Save The Tiger Fund, which commissioned the study.
Conservation efforts so far have helped stabilize certain tiger populations, but many initiatives were "ad hoc" and "did little to stem the crisis," the study found.

UK scientists say they have solved the mystery of why prehistoric flying reptiles grew crests on their heads, BBC reported.
A rare skull specimen found in Brazil shows the crest appeared at puberty, suggesting it was used to attract attention from the opposite sex.
University of Portsmouth experts say pterosaurs, which ruled the air during the time of the dinosaurs, flaunted their headgear in sexual displays.
Paleobiologist Darren Naish said the crest was a signal of sexual maturity; used like a peacock's tail to attract a mate.
"It would have been like a gigantic cockerel's comb, a brightly-colored striking structure used in display," he told the BBC News website.
"We don't know this but we imagine they would have bobbed it around and used it to attract other pterosaurs."
The theory is based on the skull of a species of pterosaur known as Tupuxuara, which was unearthed recently in north-east Brazil.
It was a rare discovery; only a handful of fossil specimens exist in the world and all the others are the remains of adults.
Naish and colleague David Martill examined the skull and found that the crest was different in the juvenile.
Rather than forming one large triangular crest of bone extending from the snout to the back of the head, it was made up of two pieces.
One crest came from the back of the skull and the other from the front of the snout. The crest that sprouted from the front grew backwards, only fusing to form one large crest when the pterosaur reached puberty.