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MARKING 10 YEARS OF COMBATING DESERTIFICATION BY CARBON SEQUESTRATION PROJECT IN IRAN
“Iran is one of those countries most affected by desertification and has made the rehabilitation of its degraded lands a top priority”, said Gary Lewis, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative in the I.R.of Iran. He delivered these remarks as part of his speech made during the event held on 5 May 2013 in the Iranian Center for International Conferences on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Carbon Sequestration Project led by Bureau of Desert Affairs and supported by UNDP.
The first phase of this Project launched in 2003 and funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Government of the I.R.of Iran encompassing more than 30 villages in Hosseinabad Sarbisheh, South Khorasan province with the purpose to demonstrate that desertified rangelands can be reclaimed by local people in a cost-effective way.
In view of the achievements of the first phase of Carbon Sequestration in Desertified Rangelands of Hossein Abad Project in local capacity building, gender empowerment, small enterprise generation and participation of local villagers in cost-efficient rehabilitation and management of degraded rangelands, the Forests, Rangelands and Watershed Management Organization (FRWO) and UNDP agreed on the second phase in 2010 for a period of five years in 40 villages and across 225 thousand hectares, to ensure that people are fully involved in sustainable management of natural resources.
In April 2012, the project was expanded to include sites in the provinces of Kerman (Shahdad) and Tehran (Mallard). It is noteworthy that the most important rehabilitation activities in 2012 were the regular yearly irrigation of 226 hectares, seedling plantation on an area of 246 hectares, seeding on 160 hectares, and runoff management on an area of 346 hectares.
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DESERTIFICATION 