A Directory of Wetlands in the Middle East

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ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

INTRODUCTION

by Jamshid Mansoori

[go to site descriptions]

Area: 1,648,195 sq.km.

Population: 58,206,250 (1992 census).

The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the largest countries in Southwest Asia, with a land area almost equal to that of Italy, Spain, France and the British Isles combined. It is bounded to the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the south by the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, and to the west by Iraq and Turkey. Altitudes range from 26 metres below sea-level on the shores of the Caspian to 5,774 m at the summit of Mount Damavand, an almost perfect volcanic cone in the central Alborz Mountains near Tehran.

Approximately 60% of Iran is classified as desert and semi-desert, and over half of the country is mountainous, with ranges oriented more or less parallel to its international borders. The Alborz Mountains run from west to east across the north of the country, and the Zagros Mountains from northwest to southeast along its western borders. The Alborz Mountains, with their eastern extensions, and the Zagros Mountains which merge into the Mekran Range in the southeast, form a giant supine "V" which encloses the vast and roughly triangular area constituting Iran's central plateau. This arid plateau, which continues eastward into Afghanistan and Pakistan, has an average elevation of 1,200-1,300 m above sea level, and comprises a number of salt basins and sand deserts including the Dasht-e Kavir (Great Salt Desert) and the Dasht-e Lut (Great Sand Desert). There are also many isolated chains of mountains within the central plateau, running mostly parallel to the Zagros Mountains.

Geographically, the Iranian plateau dates from the Tertiary period, although older formations exist in many areas. Severe orogenic uplift and folding produced much of this land from an enormous sea in the mid-Miocene. Due to their comparatively young ages, the principal mountain ranges are still settling, and this seems to be one of the causes of the earthquakes that frequently rock the country.

Climatic differences are great. Much of the country has a desert climate with an average annual precipitation of less than 300 mm, but some parts of the Caspian lowlands and north slope of the Alborz Mountains receive as much as 2,000 mm of rainfall. Summers are generally warm to hot with almost continuous sunshine, while winters can be extremely cold, with cold airstreams blowing from the northeast. Mean January temperatures range from 20C along the Gulf of Oman coast in the southeast to minus 2C in northwestern Iran, while extreme temperatures range from a maximum of 53C in the south to minus 38C in the extreme northwest.

Iran may be divided into four main physiographic regions: the Caspian region; the central plateau; the Zagros and associated ranges; and the southern coastal lowlands (Firouz, 1974). The Caspian region comprises a humid region of comparatively high precipitation, ranging from 2,000 mm in Gilan in the west to about 500 mm in Gorgan in the east, and with the rainfall more evenly distributed throughout the year than elsewhere in the country. The northern slopes of the Alborz Mountains overlooking the Caspian Sea receive some of the highest rainfall in the country, and support dense deciduous forest. To the south of the Alborz, the arid central plateau extends eastward from the Zagros Mountains in the west to the border with Afghanistan in the east. The high mountain barriers in the north and west exclude the moisture-bearing clouds from the Caspian and Mediterranean regions, resulting in low annual precipitation ranging from a maximum of about 350 mm to a minimum of less than 40 mm.

The complex Zagros Mountains, which form the western and southern borders of the central plateau, extend approximately 1,770 km from the Turkish border southeastward to the province of Baluchistan in extreme southeastern Iran. In their higher parts, these mountains rise to elevations of between 3,000 and 4,600 m. Annual precipitation decreases from west to east and from north to south, ranging from about 1,000 mm in the northwest to as little as 200 mm in the southeast. Much of this region was formerly characterized by a climax woodland of two main types: a forest dominated by evergreen oaks Quercus spp. at higher elevations, and a steppe-forest composed of pistachio Pistacia spp. and almond Amygdalus spp. trees at lower elevations. Dry farming has been practised in the Zagros for many millennia and this, together with the cutting of wood for fuel, has been instrumental in the disappearance of a major part of the woodland. Large tracts of woodland now survive only in some of the remoter areas of the high Zagros and on certain isolated mountain ranges on the southern edge of the central plateau.

The narrow coastal plain along the shores of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman is characterized by open park-like stands of Acacia, Prosopis and Tamarix and extensive date-palm groves. Annual precipitation ranges from 100 to 300 mm, mostly falling between November and April, although in the extreme southeast, the southwest monsoon occasionally brings some rain in late summer. In the extreme southwest, the Mesopotamian lowlands extend into Iran in Khuzestan Province, and here, along the major rivers, there are still some remnants of the once extensive riverine thickets of Populus euphraticus and Tamarix spp.

Iran possesses an extremely diverse fauna and flora, partly because of its

great range of habitats - from permanent snows to deep deserts and from lush deciduous forests in the north to palm groves and mangroves in the south - and partly because of its position at a crossroads between three major faunal regions. The greater part of the country is situated in the Palearctic Region, with typically Western Palearctic species predominating throughout the northwest, west and central parts of the country and some typically Eastern Palearctic species extending into northeastern Iran in the highlands of Khorasan. In southern Iran, two other faunal regions have a pronounced influence: the Indo-malayan Region in the southeast, and the Afro-tropical Region in the extreme southwest. About 125 species of mammals (Harrington, 1977; Eetemad, 1986) and 500 species of birds (Scott et al., 1975; Mansoori, 1995) have been recorded, while at least 270 species of fish (including 33 endemic species) are known from the Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea. A recent check-list records over 1,000 species of fish as being known to occur or potentially occurring in Iranian fresh and salt waters.

Botanically, Iran forms a bridge between four major phyto-geological regions: the Irano-Turanian, Saharo-Arabian, Euro-Siberian and Sudanian (Zohary, 1973). It is also one of the largest speciation centres of the Holarctic desert flora, with Irano-Turanian species predominating. The total number of plant species present has been variously estimated at between seven thousand and ten thousand, about 20% of which are endemic.

Approximately 11.5% of Iran's land area is under cultivation, with wheat, rice and tobacco being the principal crops. Wheat is grown mostly in the uplands in the west and northwest, while rice and tobacco are grown mainly in the Caspian lowlands. Other crops include barley, sugar-beet, cotton, dates, raisins and tea. Over much of the arid interior of the country, the principal farming activity is livestock raising, especially sheep and goats. The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the world's largest oil producers, and much of the economy is based on the petroleum industry. The country has rich mineral resources, including iron ore, copper, manganese, chromite, coal and salt, and has an important textile industry. Other industries include sugar-refining, food processing and the production of petrochemicals, iron and steel, cement and building materials. Traditional handicrafts, notably carpets, also play an important role in the economy.

Summary of Wetland Situation

Although much of Iran is extremely dry, the country possesses a great diversity of wetland ecosystems, most of which can be grouped into six major systems: the wetlands of the south Caspian lowlands in Gilan and Mazandaran Provinces in the north; the wetlands of the Uromiyeh Basin in Azarbayjan Province in the northwest; the wetlands of Khuzestan Province in the southwest; the wetlands of central Fars Province in the southern Zagros; the wetlands of the Sistan Basin on the border with Afghanistan in the east; and the wetlands along the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman coasts in the south.

The wetlands of Gilan and Mazandaran comprise an almost unbroken chain of freshwater lakes and marshes, brackish lagoons, irrigation ponds and rice paddies stretching for some 700 km along the shores of the Caspian Sea from the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan in the west to the border with Turkmenistan in the east. Two of the most important wetlands in these lowlands are Anzali Mordab in the west and the Gorgan Bay/Miankaleh complex in the east. The former comprises a complex of shallow, freshwater lakes with extensive reed-beds and surrounding flood-meadows, while the latter is a large shallow brackish lagoon with extensive seasonally flooded sedge marshes and tamarisk thickets, almost completely cut off from the Caspian Sea by the 60 km long Miankaleh Peninsula.

One of the most important types of wetland in the south Caspian lowlands is the "ab-bandan", a small, man-made reservoir or flooded rice paddy with a luxuriant growth of underwater vegetation. These shallow wetlands, varying in size from 3 ha to 1,000 ha, provide excellent feeding and roosting areas for large numbers of migratory waterfowl. Most were originally built as temporary water storage areas to provide water for irrigation during the dry summer months. However, many also serve as private reserves for duck-trapping during the winter months; some have been built specifically for this purpose, and as such are jealously guarded. In the late 1950s, Savage (1963) estimated that there were some 400 ab-bandans in Mazandaran alone, covering about 11,000 ha. Recent surveys by personnel from the Department of the Environment have revealed that there are still about 115 ab-bandans and "damgah" (ponds created specially for duck-trapping) in Gilan and Mazandaran, totalling some 10,000 ha. Although these ab-bandans represent only a small proportion of the total wetland habitat in the south Caspian, they comprise a very important component of the habitat available for waterfowl because they embrace some of the richest feeding habitats in the region, and provide undisturbed areas where waterfowl can rest during the day. The construction of large dams on the main rivers at some time in the future would render many of the ab-bandans obsolete for irrigation purposes, and could lead to their conversion to agricultural land, very much to the detriment of wintering waterfowl. In recognition of this potential threat, the maintenance and preservation of ab-bandans has become an important part of the Department of the Environment's programme of wetland conservation in the south Caspian region.

The Uromiyeh Basin in the highlands of Azarbayjan in northwestern Iran includes a number of important wetlands centred on Lake Uromiyeh itself, a vast, shallow, hypersaline lake of some 483,000 ha with numerous small islands and spectacular breeding colonies of White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus), Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) and many other species of waterfowl. Although the lake is too saline to support any plants or animals other than the alga Enteromorpha and the brine shrimp Artemia, the numerous small fresh and brackish water lakes and marshes along the rivers which enter the lake support abundant aquatic vegetation and are very rich in wildlife.

In extreme southwestern Iran, three large rivers rising in the Zagros Mountains (the Karun, Dez and Kharkeh) flow out onto the plains of Khuzestan and create a vast complex of seasonal floodplain wetlands which extend southward to the head of the Gulf. In the west, these wetlands are contiguous with the great floodplain wetlands of lower Mesopotamia in Iraq. The most important wetland in this region is Shadegan Marshes, some 290,000 ha of seasonally flooded sedge marsh and brackish lagoons adjacent to the extensive intertidal mudflats at the head of the Gulf. Other similar, but much smaller, floodplain wetlands occur further south along the Gulf coast, notably in the delta of the Helleh River near Bushire.

Near the eastern end of the Zagros Mountains in central Fars Province, there is a group of large wetlands set in broad valleys between rugged mountain ranges. These wetlands include freshwater lakes and marshes, such as Dasht-e Arjan and the Haftbarm Lakes, and brackish to saline lakes with extensive brackish marshes, such as Parishan, Maharloo, Bakhtegan and Tashk. Lake Bakhtegan and Lake Tashk (together known as the Neiris Lakes) are fed by the Kur River; during years of heavy rainfall they unite to form a single lake of about 108,000 ha. In most years, however, the water surface is much less than this, and the two lakes are surrounded by extensive bare salt flats.

In the Sistan Basin, on the border between Iran and Afghanistan, there is a vast complex of freshwater lakes with extensive reed-beds which at times of peak flooding can cover over 200,000 ha. These wetlands are unusual in that although the three main lakes, Hamoun-i Puzak, Hamoun-i Sabari and Hamoun-i Hirmand, lie within an internal drainage basin, they are predominantly freshwater. The system is fed by the Hirmand River, which rises in the Hindu Kush in northern Afghanistan. During long periods of drought, as occurred throughout the late 1960s and again in the 1980s, the Hirmand supplies sufficient water to flood only the uppermost of the lakes, the Hamoun-i Puzak, which lies almost entirely within Afghanistan. However, during years of unusually heavy rainfall, as occurred in the late 1970s and again in 1990, the floodwaters of the Hirmand sweep through all three lakes and overflow into a vast salt waste to the southeast, flushing the salts out of the system in the process.

Each of these five major regions comprises a complex of large and small lakes and marshes, providing a wide diversity of habitat types and supporting a rich and diverse flora. Phragmites reed-beds are characteristic of many of the wetlands, and are particularly extensive at Anzali Mordab in the southwest Caspian, in the Hamoun wetlands in the Sistan Basin, at Dasht-e Arjan and Lake Parishan in Fars, and at several of the wetlands in the Uromiyeh Basin in Azarbayjan. The reed-beds are highly productive, and provide breeding habitat for many species of waterfowl. The reeds are traditionally used for thatching, especially in Gilan, Mazandaran and Sistan, where reeds are harvested on a large scale not only for local use but also for export to other parts of the country for roofing materials and mat-making.

The sixth major wetland system in Iran comprises the numerous tidal creeks and large areas of intertidal mudflats and mangrove swamps along Iran's 2,000 km of coastline on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Mangroves are at the extreme limit of their distribution in the southern Gulf, and comprise only a single species, Avicennia marina. Harrington (1976b) gives a detailed description of mangrove distribution in Iran, and estimates the total area of mangrove at 8,900 ha. Much the largest of the mangrove/mudflats ecosystems is found in the Khouran Straits north of Qeshm Island, where there are some 100,000 ha of low-lying islands, mangroves, mudflats and creeks. Further east, along the Gulf of Oman coast in Persian Baluchistan, offshore depths increase to over 50 m and the coastline has extensive sand dunes, long sandy beaches and stretches of sea-cliffs interrupted at intervals by large creek systems with extensive mangroves and mudflats. Where the sublittoral has hard substrates, coral reefs and seagrass beds appear. The large bays at Pozm and Chahbahar in the east lie in a region with an extremely rich and diverse marine fauna.

There are seven large offshore islands in the eastern Gulf, Qeshm, Hormoz, Larak, Hengam, Kish, Henderabi and Lavan, as well as many smaller islands and islets, some of which are extremely important for breeding sea-birds and marine turtles. All of the larger islands are rocky and sparsely populated, and the easternmost are surrounded by substantial coral reefs. The little information available on Iran's coral reefs has been summarized by UNEP/IUCN (1988).

The desert interior of Iran is almost completely surrounded by a ring of high mountain ranges, the source of numerous perennial and seasonal rivers which flow down into the interior deserts and are eventually lost in great salt wastes such as the Dasht-e Kavir in the north and the Hamoun-i Jaz Murian in the south. Some of the larger rivers terminate in extensive brackish and saline lakes, such as Gavekhoni Lake at the mouth of the Zaindeh Rud in Isfahan Province. In years of high rainfall, such wetlands may remain flooded throughout the year. Elsewhere in the country, there are various isolated small lakes, spring-fed pools and seasonal marshes, particularly in the west, west-central and northwest, many of which support a diverse aquatic flora and fauna, and some of which may, at certain times of the year, be important for migratory waterfowl.

The wetlands of Iran constitute vital staging and wintering areas for millions of migratory waterfowl using the West Siberian-Caspian-East African and Central Siberian-Indus-South Asian flyways, and also support large breeding populations of many species. Several million waterfowl utilize the wetlands as wintering habitat, while perhaps as many birds again use the wetlands as staging areas on their way to and from wintering areas further to the southwest or southeast. The wetlands of Iran are very important for seven species of birds listed as globally threatened in the 1994 IUCN List of Threatened Animals (Groombridge, 1993), namely Pygmy Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pygmaeus), Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus), Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus), Marbled Teal (Marmaronetta angustirostris), White-headed Duck (Oxyura leucocephala), White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus). A further four threatened species formerly occurred in significant numbers, but are now only scarce passage migrants or vagrants, namely Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis), Pallas' Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus), Sociable Plover (Chettusia gregaria) and Slender-billed Curlew (Numenius tenuirostris). The status of three of the globally threatened species, Marmaronetta angustirostris, Oxyura leucocephala and Numenius tenuirostris, within Iran and throughout their world ranges has recently been summarized by Green (1993), Anstey (1989) and Gretton (1991), respectively.

In many parts of Iran, the level of exploitation of wetlands is high. Floodplain wetlands, river banks and lake shores are utilized for the cultivation of cereals, rice or vegetables, while the rivers and lakes themselves support intensive freshwater fisheries. The wetlands provide vital sources of water for domestic and industrial consumption, and constitute natural water storage reservoirs which can be utilized for irrigation purposes. Many of the larger rivers have been dammed to provide the means for generating hydro-electricity, while some of the inland salt lakes are exploited as an abundant source of various salts. Reeds are widely used for thatching and weaving purposes or as fuel, and in the vast reed-beds of the Sistan Basin, marsh-dwelling communities were until recently almost totally dependent on reeds for their construction needs. Large numbers of domestic livestock, particularly cattle and water buffalo, are allowed to graze on wetland vegetation, and in some areas, aquatic plants are harvested to provide fodder during the winter months.

Waterfowl hunting occurs at wetlands throughout Iran. Sport hunting is common, and occurs on a large scale at wetlands near the larger cities. In many rural areas, however, waterfowl are shot, netted or trapped primarily for their meat value. In the south Caspian lowlands in particular, enormous numbers of waterbirds are harvested on a commercial basis, and provide a livelihood for hundreds of people. Savage (1963) has given an early account of waterfowl hunting in the south Caspian region. He studied waterfowl hunting in northern Iran between 1957 and 1959, and concluded that over 1,200,000 ducks were being killed annually in Gilan and Mazandaran during an average season. The principal method of capture at that time was by means of a net, gong and flare at night. Mist-nests and clap-nets sited at pools to which ducks were attracted by trained decoy-ducks were also widely used, as were long flight nets. Shooting, although increasing, accounted for only about 9% of the kill in 1957-59. A survey of duck hunting in the south Caspian region in the early 1970s, conducted by personnel from the Department of the Environment, suggested that the annual harvest of ducks and coots may have been as high as three million birds. Use of the traditional net, gong and flare technique and clap-netting were still widespread, but shooting and flight-netting had increased considerably since the 1950s. Between the 1970s and the early 1990s, the number of waterfowl wintering in the south Caspian region fell dramatically, almost certainly as a result of the excessive hunting pressure, and the annual harvest, although still high, is now well below the 1970s levels.

Wetlands in Iran, as elsewhere in the region, are increasingly coming under pressure from man's activities. Undoubtedly the most serious threats to wetlands have been the drainage and "reclamation" of wetlands for agriculture, industry and urban development, and diversion of water supplies for irrigation purposes. Flood control projects and irrigation schemes on the Hirmand River in Afghanistan have considerably affected the wetlands of the Sistan Basin, especially during years of below average rainfall. Increased siltation is becoming a problem at some wetlands, as deforestation and overgrazing in the water catchment areas lead to severe soil erosion, increased silt loads in the rivers and flash-flooding. Such problems are especially serious in the south Caspian lowlands; the wetlands of the Anzali Mordab complex, in particular, are threatened by increased rates of siltation and accelerated eutrophication. Most of Iran's major rivers have been dammed to permit the generation of hydro-electricity and to provide water for irrigation purposes, industrial use and domestic consumption. Because of soil erosion in the catchment areas, many of the dams have silted up much more rapidly than was anticipated, with consequent loss in water storage capacity and greatly reduced value for water supply and generation of electricity. In the 1970s, increased coastal erosion in the delta of the Sefid Rud in the south Caspian was attributed to a reduction in the amount of silt reaching the delta following the construction of a large dam upstream in the Alborz Mountains. At some wetlands, especially in the Sistan Basin, heavy grazing of marsh vegetation by domestic livestock is inhibiting natural plant succession, and is causing permanent damage to aquatic plant communities as the highly palatable species are grazed to extinction. This degradation of wetland vegetation and the introduction of exotic fish species have had a detrimental effect on some of the native freshwater fishes. Some of the mangrove communities in the Persian Gulf have also been degraded by excessive utilization for fuelwood and fodder, and over-grazing by camels. Many wetlands, especially those downstream of large urban centres and major farming areas, have been polluted with domestic sewage, herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, industrial effluents and other waste products, and some of Iran's coastal wetlands and inshore waters are now badly polluted. The petrochemical industry in the Persian Gulf continues to pose a number of threats to the environment, not least pollution. The movement of oil tankers through the Gulf presents a continued threat to marine life and to the increasingly important Gulf fisheries.

One of the major environmental threats to wetlands in southwestern Iran during the 1980s came from the consequences of the prolonged military conflict between Iran and Iraq. In 1983, the Nowruz oil field in the Persian Gulf northwest of Kharg Island was damaged, resulting in severe pollution of the sea by oil and gas leakage. The very important Shadegan Marshes and tidal mudflats of Khor-al Amaya and Khor Musa (a Ramsar Site) in Khuzestan and Lake Zaribar in Kurdistan were also damaged during the war, particularly because of the use of chemical weapons by Iraq. The Gulf War in 1990-91 seems to have had much less of an impact on wetlands in Iran. At the invitation of the Iranian Government, a Japanese mission visited Iran in July and August 1991 to assess the environmental impact of the Gulf War on Iran's Gulf coast. This mission investigated the Gulf coast from Khuzestan to Bushire and Kharg Island, but was unable to find any direct evidence of damage to wildlife populations from oil spills. However, air pollution from the burning oil wells in Kuwait is reported to have damaged vegetation at some of the wetlands in Khuzestan, and this problem is still being investigated.

Despite the high human pressures on wetland resources and increasing demand for more land for agriculture, there have been relatively few major losses of wetland habitat in Iran in recent decades. Locally, losses have been severe, especially in the wetlands of Khuzestan in the southwest and in the Hamoun wetlands in the Sistan Basin. However, in most regions of the country, many of the wetlands remain in relatively good condition. This is due in large part to the active policy of wetland conservation pursued by the Government of Iran since the late 1960s, and the establishment of an effective network of protected areas which includes many of the country's most important wetlands.

The first protected area incorporating a major wetland (Lake Uromiyeh) was established in 1967 by the Iran Game and Fish Department, later to become the Department of the Environment. By the end of 1991, the system of protected areas in Iran included seven National Parks, 23 Wildlife Refuges, 43 Protected Areas and four National Nature Monuments, totalling at least 8,041,265 ha and covering over 4.8% of the country. Wetlands figure prominently in this network of reserves. One of the National Parks, nine of the Wildlife Refuges and ten of the Protected Areas were established primarily to protect wetland ecosystems, while a further two Protected Areas and a Wildlife Refuge incorporate important wetland habitat. These 23 reserves are listed in Table 1. Of the 63 internationally important wetlands described in this inventory, no less than 20 are now wholly or partly included within reserves. In the mid-1970s, it was estimated that between 40% and 75% of all ducks, geese, swans and coots wintering in Iran did so within protected areas, and with increased levels of disturbance at unprotected wetlands in recent years, this proportion may now be considerably higher.

Wetland Research

A great deal of information is available on the wetlands of Iran, particularly with respect to their importance for birds. Early accounts of the wetlands and their waterfowl were provided by Savage (1964), Firouz (1968), Savage and Firouz (1968) and Firouz and Ferguson (1970a, 1970b). The wetlands of Gilan Province in the southwest Caspian were described in some detail by Ferguson (1972). Information available up to the end of 1970 was summarized in a small booklet on the wetlands and waterfowl of Iran produced by the Game and Fish Department for distribution at the International Conference on Conservation of Wetlands and Waterfowl held in Ramsar, Iran, in January and February 1971 (Anon, 1971).

As a Contracting Party to the Ramsar Convention, the Islamic Republic of Iran has presented a considerable amount of information on its major wetlands and conservation activities at the Conferences of the Parties to the Convention and at related international wetland meetings (e.g. Ashtiani-Zarandi, 1990; Division of Research and Development, 1972; Mansoori, 1984; Scott, 1976c; Vahedi, 1982). Information on the 18 wetlands of international importance designated by Iran for inclusion in the Ramsar List has been published in successive editions of A Directory of Wetlands of International Importance (most recently in WCMC, 1990, and Ramsar Convention Bureau, 1993). The 18 Ramsar sites have also been described in some detail by Carp (1980) in A Directory of Western Palearctic Wetlands. A recent inventory of Important Bird Areas in the Middle East, sponsored by BirdLife International, describes 105 sites of special importance for bird conservation in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Evans, 1994). These include all of the 63 wetlands of international importance identified in the present inventory, as well as a number of smaller wetlands of only national or regional importance.

Iran was the first country in the Middle East to carry out a national wetlands inventory. This was undertaken by personnel of the Department of the Environment during the early 1970s, and identified a total of 286 wetlands, 33 of which were considered to be of international importance (Scott, 1976a & 1976c). In 1990, the Department of the Environment launched a major project to update the wetland inventory and to describe the key wetlands in Iran, which special attention being given to aquatic plants, waterbirds and mammals. During the first phase of the project (1990-1994), some 58 of the most important wetlands were investigated (Motalebbi-Pour, 1993).

Much of the information on the importance of Iran's wetlands for waterfowl has been derived from mid-winter waterfowl counts. Annual mid-winter counts were initiated by the Game and Fish Department in 1966/67, and have been continued ever since, except for a gap of one year (1979) during the revolution. Initially, counts were confined to the south Caspian region, but in early 1970, coverage was extended to the wetlands of Azarbayjan, Fars and Sistan. The important wetlands of Khuzestan were counted for the first time in February 1971, as were some of the wetlands along the coast of the Persian Gulf and Persian Baluchistan. Small fixed-winged aircraft were used for censusing waterfowl at the huge and otherwise largely inaccessible wetlands of Khuzestan, Fars and Sistan from 1973 to 1976, and the entire south coast of Iran was surveyed from the air in the winters of 1973/74 and 1974/75. The overall coverage of the mid-winter waterfowl counts was considered to be very good at this time, with between 160 and 300 sites being covered each winter (Scott, 1976d). In an effort to obtain a better understanding of waterfowl movements within Iran during the course of the winter, nationwide counts of waterfowl were also carried out during the month of November in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Also during the early 1970s, breeding season surveys were undertaken at all wetlands in Iran which were thought likely to be important for breeding waterfowl. These surveys included several aerial censuses of the huge breeding colonies of Greater Flamingo, White Pelican and other waterfowl at Lake Uromiyeh, and boat surveys to islands in the Persian Gulf known or thought to be important for breeding sea-birds. Estimates of the wintering and breeding populations of waterfowl and sea-birds in Iran, based on surveys undertaken between 1970 and 1976, are given in Table 2.

Aircraft ceased to become available for waterfowl counts in 1977, and for a few years immediately following the revolution, the mid-winter counts occurred at a greatly reduced level. However, some 40 sites were being counted annually by the mid-1980s, and since then the number of sites counted has increased rapidly to levels comparable with those achieved in the early 1970s. Thus, over 100 sites were counted in January 1988, 124 in January 1992 and 153 sites in January 1994. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to carry out any aerial counts in recent years, and since effective coverage of many of the vast wetlands in central and southern Iran can only be achieved from the air, direct comparison between some of the count data from the early 1970s and count data from the early 1990s remains difficult (Perennou et al., 1994).

In 1966, the Game and Fish Department initiated a duck-banding programme in the south Caspian region, and in 1970, banding activities were extended to include Greater Flamingos at the Lake Uromiyeh colony. In the early 1970s, the Department of the Environment established a national bird-banding scheme, with its own rings bearing a Tehran address. Banding activities were rapidly expanded to take in a wide variety of waterfowl, notably White Pelicans and gulls (Larus spp.) at Lake Uromiyeh, Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) in Gilan, herons and egrets (Ardeidae) in Fars and on the Gulf coast, Common Cranes (Grus grus) in Fars, shorebirds in the south Caspian region and Tehran area, and terns (Sterna spp.) in the Gulf. Bird-banding activities in Iran and all recoveries reported up to the end of 1975 have been summarized by Cornwallis and Ferguson (1970) and Argyle (1975a, 1976a).

Many other wetland-related research activities were initiated by the Game and Fish Department and later the Department of the Environment in the late 1960s and 1970s. These included the following:

In the winter of 1975/76, the Department of the Environment, in collaboration with the International Crane Foundation, initiated a project to re-establish the endangered Siberian Crane as a wintering species in Iran through cross-fostering with Common Cranes. The first phase of the project involved the banding and colour-marking of Common Cranes on their wintering grounds at Dasht-e Arjan in Fars. One hundred and eighty-three Common Cranes were marked in 1976, 1977 and 1978 (Farhadpour, 1987). However, with the rediscovery of a wild population of Siberian Cranes wintering in Iran in 1977/78, this project was abandoned.

Since the revolution in 1978, the Department of the Environment has been formulating a policy of wetland conservation, and has been carrying out a systematic investigation of its wetlands and waterfowl populations. Some of the most important projects in recent years have been as follows:

A considerable amount of fisheries research has been carried out in the Caspian Sea and in adjacent coastal wetlands by the National Fisheries Organization (Shilot). This organization has also conducted limnological and hydrological research in the Caspian, particularly with respect to the rise in sea level since the late 1970s. The National Centre for Marine Science is responsible for marine research in the Persian Gulf. A marine laboratory was established at Bandar Abbas in the southern Gulf in the early 1970s, and a marine research station was constructed on nearby Hormoz Island.

Other wetland research has included several investigations on the hydrobiology of the Neiris Lakes in Fars, the Hamoun wetlands in Sistan, and Lake Uromiyeh in Azarbayjan (e.g. Loffler, 1959, 1961, 1968; Savage, 1968). In the 1960s, the University of Shiraz provided support for a major study of the wetlands of Fars Province (Cornwallis, 1968a, 1968b). In recent years, the University of Tehran has also been involved in research on wetland fauna and flora. Two M.Sc. students from this university are currently studying the limnology and avifauna of Lakes Ajigol and Ulmagol on the Turkoman Steppes in Mazandaran. The University of Tabriz is currently undertaking a project on the sustainable utilization of wetland resources at Lake Uromiyeh in Azarbayjan.

Wetland Area Legislation

Early descriptions of environmental management and protection in Iran are given in Firouz et al. (1970), Firouz (1974), Firouz and Harrington (1976) and Harrington (1976a). More recently, environmental legislation has been summarized by IUCN (1992). The first law concerning the conservation of nature in Iran was passed in 1956 and created the Game Council of Iran, which was charged with the control of hunting activities and the establishment of hunting centres for the protection of endangered species. In 1967, two new laws were enacted: the Law of Protection and Exploitation of Forest and Range and the Law on Game and Fish. The latter created the Game and Fish Department as an independent governmental organization, and gave this body the powers to declare certain areas for the protection of flora and fauna. The Game and Fish Law, as amended in 1975, represents the basic legal control through which exploitation of wildlife is curtailed, hunting and shooting are regulated, and game species are legally protected.

The Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act of 1974 superseded all previous enabling nature conservation legislation, and remains the main law covering conservation within Iran. This Act placed wetlands under the jurisdiction of the newly created Department of the Environment. Since the proclamation of Iran as an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979, all laws relating to the conservation of the natural environment have been implemented on the basis of Constitutional Act No.50 of the Republic, which states that all citizens are required to honour the conservation of nature and natural resources.

In 1971, Iran hosted an International Conference on the Conservation of Wetlands and Waterfowl at the small resort town of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. It was at this conference that the final text of the Convention on the Conservation of Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (the Ramsar Convention) was approved and opened for signature. The Government of Iran ratified the Convention on 23 June 1975, and designated 18 wetlands (totalling 1,357,550 ha) for inclusion in the Convention List of Wetlands of International Importance (Table 3). No new sites have been added to the Ramsar List since then, but several sites are currently being considered by the Department of the Environment for designation in the near future.

Also at international level, the Islamic Republic of Iran has ratified the World Heritage Convention, although it has not designated any natural World Heritage Sites, and has signed (but not ratified) the Biodiversity Convention. Iran participates in the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, and as of December 1993, had designated nine Biosphere Reserves covering a total of 2,699,731 ha. Four of these Biosphere Reserves (Arjan, Hara, Uromiyeh and Miankaleh) contain internationally important wetlands described in this inventory. The Islamic Republic of Iran has also ratified the Regional Convention for Cooperation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution, and the Action Plan for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Areas (Evans, 1994). A joint agreement was signed with the USSR in 1973 to combat pollution in the Caspian Sea (IUCN, 1992).

Wetland Area Administration

The Department of the Environment, established in March 1972, is the only organization responsible for the investigation, management and conservation of wetlands in Iran. Under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act of 1974, this Department superseded the Game and Fish Department (created in 1967), which itself superseded the Game Council of Iran (created in 1956). The Department is responsible for the protection of wildlife, hunting and fishing in inland waters, as well as protection of the natural environment. The Department undertakes long-term environmental studies and management projects, with responsibilities which include the conservation and enhancement of wildlife resources and prevention of pollution. It puts forward regulations on habitat management, and has introduced environmental legislation regarding pollution. Long-term programmes include the cleaning of the Caspian Sea and Iranian rivers, and prevention of air pollution (IUCN, 1992).

After the proclamation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, the Department of the Environment became responsible for environmental preservation according to a new philosophy, policy aim and strategy, centred on the continued utilization of environmental resources (IUCN, 1992). Any development activity likely to have an impact on wetlands must receive the necessary permission from the Department of the Environment, and an environmental impact assessment must be carried out before any work can begin. However, any organization or institute wishing to carry out research in wetlands is allowed to do so, provided that permission has first been obtained from the Department.

The establishment of hunting reserves in Iran dates back to ancient Persian times, but it was not until the creation of the Game Council in 1956 that the foundations for the present system of protected areas were laid. The Game Council was created with a policy to set up hunting centres for the protection of endangered species and the control of hunting. In 1967, the newly created Game and Fish Department was empowered by law to declare certain areas for the protection of flora and fauna. Two types of designated area were established: Protected Regions in which hunting and land-use activities were subject to certain controls, and Wildlife Parks in which wildlife and their habitats were strictly protected. These sites were re-classified in 1974 following the introduction of the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, which defined four categories of protected natural area: National Park, Wildlife Refuge, Protected Area and National Natural Monument (Firouz & Harrington, 1976). These four categories are described by IUCN (1992) and Evans (1994).

The Game and Fish Law of 1967 also provided for the establishment of Protected Rivers and Fishing Refuges. Protected Rivers are areas designated to protect natural habitats from fishing. By the end of 1991, there were five Protected Rivers under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Environment: the Chalus, Karadj, Lar/Haraz, Sardab and Jajerud. Other specified areas include all marshes, wetlands, waterways and bays along the Caspian Sea, all of which are declared protected in so far as fishing is concerned (IUCN, 1992).

Organizations involved with Wetlands

Department of the Environment

Ministry of Water and Power

Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources

National Fisheries Organization (Shilot)

National Centre for Marine Science

Tehran University

University of Tabriz

University of Shiraz

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