Soil erosion affects 400,000 hectares of land in Iran
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 25
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Due to drought, every year about 400,000 hectares of soil are eroded in Iran, an official with the country's Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization Tarahhum Bahzud said, Trend reports via IRNA.
Despite the fact that precipitation has increased in the recent years, soil erosion problems are still present, Bahzad said.
Main cause of soil erosion in Iran is extreme overgrazing, Bahzad said, adding that presently, vegetation covers 20 percent of land, but soil erosion would be prevented if this figure reached 85 percent.
Main program of the organization to increase the vegetation is to increase swathes of medicinal plants, he said.
Some 84 million hectares of Iranian soil is covered by pastures and about 70 percent of the land is poor in vegetation, Bahzad said.
Special projects have been prepared for 20 million hectares of land, and work has begun on projects envisaged for six million hectares.
