Azerbaijan, Trend, Aug. 19 / N. Umid, S.Isayev
Iranian Ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has transferred some 26 protected wildlife habitats including cheetah habitats to mine explorers during his last months of administration, Iranian Tehrane-emrooz newspaper reported.
Ahmadinejad`s administration has issued mining activitiy licenses in the protected areas, while according to the Iran's Environment Protection Organization laws any manipulation in these areas is banned.
According to the report, Iran`s Environment Protection Organization also has given some 50 hectares of Ashuorzadeh island in Caspian sea and Miankaleh Wildlife Refuge to a diary company for tourism projects.
Environmental activists and experts have submitted a plan to president Hassan Rouhani and emphasized urgency of halting Ahmadinejad`s anti environmental decisions, Tehrane-emrooz quoted chairwoman of Tehran City Council's committee for environment, Masoumeh Ebtekar.
She said that president Hassan Rouhani has agreed on halting Ahmadinejad government's decisions.
Iran ranked 114 among 134 countries in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) report. The index ranks countries on 25 performance indicators covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality.
Iran's rank in 2006 EPI report was 40, which indicates a fall by 74 steps during ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad`s administration (2005-2013).
Experts said that, Iran's EPI rate fall during last years is linked to Ahmadinejad`s policies. During his presidency some serious environmental incidents happened.
The Urmia Lake drying up problem, which some 70 percent of its water surface has been dried up is one of the main Iran's environmental problems.
Destroying forests is another problem. According to the official statistics some 40 hectares of forests are being destroyed every year.
One of the problems that really affects the health of people in Iran is the air pollution. The air over Iran's capital is amongst the most polluted in the world. Experts say many Iranians suffer serious health problems as a result.
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