The importance of recycling used water is understood more today by the Iranian environmental authorities, but converting theories to practice needs more investment. Mohammad J. Mohammadi Zadeh, the head of Iranian Environmental Protection Agency has declared how the water supplies of the country, which is among the arid and semi-arid lands, are wasted: “From 410 billion cubic meters of rainfall of the country, 280 billon cubic meters are evaporated, 92 billion cubic meters flow on the surface, and 38 billion cubic meters are added to underground water reservoirs.”

He has also said that the enture water supply of Iran includes a volume of 130 billion cubic meters, of which 50 billion cubic meters are guaranteed as a source of water supply.

The two main issues that are worth considering concerning this problem are recycling plans and water usage patterns. What the mentioned governmental authority focuses on is the high amount of water that is used by Iranian households as a result of poor consumption patterns that wastes water. According to him, the average annual water use per capita is 191 liters, while this figure is 150 liters for the whole world.

What draws attention at the first glance is that Iranians are wasting water unwisely. But if we think a minute, then we see showing consumption patterns to people can be of a central government’s responsibilities. This can happen by means of the media, which are mainly in hands of the government in Iran.

The recycling plans have been fundamentally implemented through building dams during the past two decades. These large construction projects have sometimes caused environmental debates and cultural problems that occurred after the construction of Sivand Dam in southern province of Fars.

However treatment and recycling the industrial used water has so far been neglected. There are many things that could be learnt regarding this issue. Brown and Caldwel in “Water System Management Plan” for the City of Davis, California (1989) have presented the most important factors that should be noted in an industrial water reuse program as follows:

• Identification of water reuse opportunities
• Determination of the minimum water quality needed for the given use
• Identification of wastewater sources that satisfy the water quality requirements
• Determination of how the water can be transported to the new use

They have also recommended important factors in a more general reuse program in Clover/Chambers Creek Basin Groundwater Management Program and EIS” (1990). For this second recommendation, they have generalized the factors for all recycling plans:

• Identification of water reuse opportunities
• Evaluation of the minimum water quality needed for a particular use
• Evaluation of water quality degradation resulting from the use
• Determination of the treatment steps, if any, that might be required to prepare the water for recycling

I am urging the government authorities in Iran to consider adopting some of these ideas.

Photo by farrokhi

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Water from Alaska to the Middle East – Like Towing Icebergs from Antarctica?

Upstream African Countries Sign Nile Water Deal Against Egypt’s Interests

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The public awareness of environmental problems is of great importance in today’s societies. It is somehow more important than the governmental privileges. In Iranian society, this awareness is in shadow of political, economic and social issues, which look more substantial to people. In a World Bank report, which were given out in 2007, the environmental awareness of the residents of Tehran were analyzed.

This report was provided three years ago but still can show the reality of the Iranian urban culture. It, as can be predicted, confirms that the first things that are important for people are the issues that directly affects on their lives. Politics is the main one. Also social and culture problems are important but the main factor that adjusts every thing is still politics.

According to the report, environment is not the priority of most of the people. Thirty percent of the respondents of the questionnaires (34 percent men and 29 percent women) think that the political problems are important or very important. This can be compared with the low percentage that was obtained from the same question about economic development, inflation, and environment.

Six percent think that economic development is important or very important (6.4 percent men and 5.3 percent women). Inflation is rated by 6.4 percent (5.8 percent of men and 6.5 percent of women). It seems that the respondents have rated the environmental issues as the least important problem. Only 4 percent have chosen important or very important for the environment (4.4 percent men and 3.3 percent women).

The worst part of the findings is that one third of the respondents (34 percent) believe that the environmental problems are not important at all and 53 percent do not have any opinion.

When the people are questioned more clearly about the problems, it becomes clear that they have some concerns about the environment. Air pollution and water quality are the biggest concerns of them. Some 62.3 percent of men and 61.3 percent of women believe that the water quality is worrying. Also 59.8 percent of men and 60.1 percent of women are worried about the air pollution produced by cars. Similarly the percentages for industrial pollutions are 41.5 for men and 47.1 for women. In the same way, 39.5 percent of men and 41.8 percent of women have declared great worry about the sound pollution.

Similar percentages are obtained from the survey about continuous reduction of green areas, disposal of industrial waste, and household garbage.

Other answers show that people are disappointed of the present situation of the urban environment. For example, just 8.7 percent of men and 10.5 of women strongly agree that “the environmental situation will be better in the future,” while 31.3 percent of men and 26.8 percent of women disagree.

The main bodies in the country that have the ability to improve the People’s responsibility about the environment are the public media, be it governmental or private. The present situation of the effects of the media like newspapers, TV, radio, books, internet, magazines, etc. are analyzed.

By the recent issues like the problems of Orumieh Lake in north-west Iran or the Iranian leopard, people have heard more of such news and have shown to be more conscious of the similar problems.

The post Tehran Residents Complain About Air Pollution and Water Quality appeared first on Green Prophet.

Since the 1980s scholars have studied the influences of urbanization on the environment, particularly the ecosystem. The rapid growth of the urban population and especially the lifestyle of the urban dwellers have undeniable effects on the life of living species and plants. Birds are of the animals that are completely affected by urbanization. Among several studies that have been done on the effects of the urban life on ecosystem, some are on the influences on the life of urban birds. Such studies show how urbanization modifies the life of avian communities of the cities by influencing food, water, climate, and predators.

During the past years, the lives of urban birds of the Iranian cities have been monitored by activists. This was started when reports of fleeing birds of Tehran were given out. While many believe that the birds of Tehran are really less than before, some say that the birds just move from the regions with higher pollution to the less-polluted parts. So the population of birds in some regions is even more than before.

Example of such studies, which is accessible online is a paper written by Beissinger and Osborne in 1982: “Effects of Urbanization on Avian Community Organization”.

Another online document that is worth reading is “Effects of Urbanization on Bird Populations in the Canadian Central Arctic” written by Richard J. Staniforth.

The story of migration of birds from cities is not limited to Tehran. Recently with the increase of air pollution in Esfahan, new reports about decreasing number of birds have been published. The last kind of birds, which are affected by air pollution, are crows. These birds are more resistant against hard conditions than many other types of birds, but still are escaping from the polluted urban environment of Esfahan. Previously the city was famous for its high number of crows.

Apart from air pollutions some other factors are important in the present condition of the urban birds of cities like Esfahan. The growing urbanization has had bad effects on the habitat of the birds, for example a large number of the trees of Esfahan are in bad conditions because of air pollution. So the birds are forced to move out of the city. Many of them are good food for the birds of prey or other animals of outside the cities. So they are also in danger of extinction.

Years ago “birds in the alleys” was quite a normal and usual picture that every one could imagine of their living space. Now it is obviously necessary to do something to save the urban environment. The question is what?

More articles on the environmental problems of Iran:

High Waste Generation and Low Level Recycling in Iran

NGOs Tell It On the Mountains in Iran (Clean Up!)

Record Hot Summer Ignites Forest Fires in Iran

Image by Hamid Reza Mohammadi

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Sound pollution in Iranian cities is hitting an all-time high. The large cities like Tehran are the worst. Sound pollution can be any unwanted or offensive sounds that unreasonably intrudes into our daily activities. When a person drives by open windows in a street, the sound is something like 70 decibels. A whisper is 35 decibels and a normal room has a sound intensity of 40 db. At 45 db a person cannot sleep. At 85, the ears are damaged, and at 120, it can hurt your ears.

The main reasons for sound pollution in Iranian cities are the sound of vehicles, airplanes, construction of buildings, small construction jobs and more. The most sound-polluted city in Iran is Tehran, which is now a city that draws the attention of the new comers by high amount of noise. This noise is much more felt in the central parts of the city.

The first reason for this pollution is the cars. Older cars usually produce more noise pollution. The second reason is the motorcycles. As Dr. Yousef Rashidi, the managing director of Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company says 49 percent of the sound pollution of Tehran is produced by motorcycles. These vehicles give out a 90 db sound. Airports and trains are other important contributors.

The statistics say that in most of the metropolitan areas of Iran the urban noise is 20 to 30 db higher than the allowed limits. But the government isn’t taking this problem seriously. Of course some partial steps have been taken during the last 10 to 15 years. Some sound walls on the two sides of noisy urban highways have been constructed, for when highways pass through the residential neighborhoods.

More severe actions are needed to combat sound pollution, an often overlooked form of pollution in the Middle East. The government and parliament of Iran should prepare strict laws like the Noise Control Act (NCA) of 1972 in the United States to save our health, and hearing.

Read more on Iran:

Traffic Fatalities in Iran: The Statics and Causes

Why 27 People Die from Air Pollution in Tehran

Lebanon’s Five Environmental Headaches

Image via Kamshots

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Desertification threatens biodiversity and reduces productivity capacity of land. Most of the land of Iran is located in arid and semi-arid climates and most of Iranians live in the most livable places outside the arid lands. So this makes it hard to develop an adequate regional planning, national-wide land-use planning, and use the productivity of all of the parts of the country.

The Central parts of Iran includes two deserts:  Dasht-e-Kavir (the Great Salt Desert – above) and Lut Desert (below) which are among the largest deserts of the world. Dasht-e Lut, also spelled Dasht-i-Lut, is a large salt desert in southeastern Iran and is the world’s 25th largest desert.

The climates of deserts can seem different from each other. The north-African desert (Sahara), which is the biggest in the world, contains extremely hot temperatures, while the Gobi Desert in Mongolia is the coldest one.

The average rainfall in the Iranian deserts are about 50 millimeters per year, while the average for the whole Iran is 320 millimeters. The Iranian rainfall average is about one third of the one for the world.

Parsi Times cites these main reasons:

• The population has doubled during last 25 years (since 1979).
• More agricultural and pastoral products have forced people to use land extensively or convert forest and rangelands to cultivated land.
• Over use of wood and plants as fuel for household cooking and heating and use of natural regulation tends to denude the soil and intensify desertification.
• Denuded soil is exposed to wind erosion and shifting sand dunes destroy orchards, gardens, farming lands and threaten industrial and economical centers and leads to total collapse of economy, devastation of the environment, abandonment of settlements and migration of people to other cities and residential centers.

The central Iranian Plateau is a hot-arid land with very low rain fall average. Eighty percent of  Iran is of the semi-arid and arid climate. The remaining 20 percent is located in the north along the Caspian Sea, which has a Mediterranean climate with lots of rains, and also in North West of Iran – Zagros Mountains, which has acceptable rainfall caused by the western winds. The importance of the problem is in the interactions of population, infrastructure and desertification.

This is why the non-desertification plans have been discussed over during the past years. Of course the first plans of this kind were executed in 1940’s. Up to 2009, about 26,100 hectares of the hot, desert lands in central Iran were covered by planting heat-resistant trees and bushes. But the necessity of implementing more powerful strategies for blocking desertification is felt.

Read more on desert climates:
Water Problems in Cyprus Worse than Those of Israel, Syria and Lebanon
Morocco to Stave off Desertification with New Environmental Charter
Thailand to Help Jordan Make Artificial Rain

Top mage via hamed
Lower image via indigoprime

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The oldest living Iranian creature, a cedar tree in Abarghu (or Abarkuh) near Yazd in center of Iran, is about to die.

There are different opinions about the real age of this famous tree considered a symbol of pre-Islam Iran (because of the respect that the pre-Islamic Iranians had for cedars as the symbol of happiness and beauty).

Some say that the cedar is 4000 years old, possibly even 8000. But as Mostafa Khoshnevis, an environmental expert says, by counting the circles in side the bark of the tree, the age of the tree is not more than 1200 years.

In any case, the cedar is one of the oldest trees in the world. It is famous that Marco Polo along with several Iranian historians had written about it.

Recent news reports from Iran suggest that the end of the life of this 25-meter tree is near. Like the Anne Frank chestnut tree in Amsterdam, all historical trees must one day die. But according to Khoshnevis, the main reason for the cedar dying in Iran, is tourism and the neglect of the responsible bodies in taking care of the soil of the area around the tree. Between 50 and 100 people visit the cedar daily and this makes the soil around the tree more compact. So the activity of the microorganisms in the soil and also the permeability of the soil become limited.

According to this environmental activist, plowing in a low depth of 5 centimeter can be a good method for solving the problem. During the past years, plowing the soil in order to save the tree has been done at a depth of about twenty centimeters and at this depth maybe some of the surface roots of the cedar are injured.

Previously a street had been built in constructed near the tree that made the living environment of the tree polluted.

Good conditions of the location that the cedar is in, was the main reason for the tree’s longevity. However it is now located in an urban park and is accessible for many people just to take a look. Of course they do not have any bad intentions, but tourism to the tree is causing some adverse affects.

Some descriptions and photos of Abarkuh Cedar (in Persian)

Read more green articles about Iran:

NGOs Tell It On the Mountains in Iran (Clean Up!)

How Iran’s Ancient Zoroastrianism Funerals and Burials are Green

Iran Plans for Solar Energy in Tehran, But Cost’s a Limiting Factor

Image via save the cedar

The post The Oldest Iranian Is Dying appeared first on Green Prophet.

Two more streets in center of Tehran will be changed to pedestrian streets. These two are Bab-Homayoon and Naser-Khosro streets in highly busy center of Tehran. According to Zone 12 of the Municipality of Tehran, the project for changing the function of streets will be started soon.

Another part of the city that have both historical value and also a corrupted urban and social problems is Marvi Alley. There are some plans for this old alley too. As the managing director of the Beautification Organization of the Municipality of Tehran says, the regeneration plan of Marvi Alley is being considered. More projects like these could reduce smog holidays.

Sepahsalar Street was the first major street in the center of Tehran that became pedestrian about three years ago.  The governmental authorities and the municipality observed a good feedback from the people, who were tired of busy and noisy streets and thousands of cars. Then some other suggestions like the regeneration and pedestrianization plans, which were mentioned, were presented.

These days, the urban travels have been quite hard for the residents of Tehran. The jobs are centralized in the center of the city and that can be great problem for a city of more than 13 million inhabitants. The result is a very populated and polluted city center. Therefore, the people seem happy to walk in pedestrian, newly renovated streets.

Another old street that is a target of the similar projects is 15-Khordad Street, which similar to Bab-Homayoon and Naser-Khosro and a remainder of the nineteenth-century Tehran. The probable extension of these projects can be developing pedestrian belt around the Grand Bazaar of Tehran.

Related articles on greening Tehran:

The Difficulties of Developing Cycling Routes in Iranian Cities

Why 27 People A Day Die from Air Pollution in Tehran

Traffic Accidents Deaths in Iran Could Push Greener Transport

The post New Pedestrian Projects in the Center of Tehran appeared first on Green Prophet.

Tehran’s recent Smog Holidays show’s us something is wrong in Middle East cities. “Is compact urban growth good for air quality?” The research conducted by Brian Stone, Adam C. Mednick, Tracey Holloway, and Scott N. Spak in 2007 is one of the researches that give a straight “yes” answer to the above question. Their paper, which was published in the journal of the American Planning Association, vol. 73, no. 4 showed that a 10% increase in population density can be associated with 3.5% reduction in household vehicle travel and emissions.

How does a compact city work?

In a compact city with a dense urban form, the destinations are near and more accessible in comparison with low-density urban forms. People can easily walk or bike to their destinations. Just like the traditional towns of the whole world. But what can be seen in the present cities is that due to the low population and construction density, the destinations are far from the starting points of the urban trips and this makes the trips longer. Therefore there is no other way for the urban dwellers except using personal cars. That occurs especially in the cities that have weak public transit, like in Iran.

The mentioned theory is not limited to the western cities, where the similar researches are usually conducted on. The Middle Eastern cities, which traditionally have a very compact built environment, can have the same influence on the urban travels and environment. A dense urban fabric is the first thing that a newcomer feels in such cities. However during the past decades, many of these cities have started to sprawl and grow fast.

The rate of urban growth of these cities is faster than the rate of the population growth. The result is urban sprawl, which can be seen in many cities of the region, for example the urban areas of central Iran.

High car ownership and automobile use in sprawled cities cause emissions and consequently air pollution. As we know the car emissions are highly associated with urban air pollution. In Tehran about 80% of the air pollution is cause by automobile emissions.

While the answer for solving a part of the air pollution puzzle is easy to see, many countries seek for complicated solutions. Sustainable urban forms are at least one of the best solutions for smoothing air quality in small and medium-sized cities of Middle East. Compact urban form and dense neighborhoods with sufficient public transit is the answer for a part of the problem.

Photo by Nima Fatemi

More articles on sustainable urbanism and transportation:

Why 60 Percent of Iranians Are Overweight

Traffic Accident Deaths In Iran Could Push Greener Transport

The Difficulties of Developing Cycling Routes in Iranian Cities

The post The Compact City As Sustainable Urban Form Can Reduce Air Pollution appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Iranian government has decided to start an oil exploration project in a national park in Kavir National Park in the Semnan province, south east of Tehran.

The opponents of the project, from  the Iranian Environmental Organization, which is a governmental institution, and also environmental activists, have had debates with the advocates, who are the governmental authorities like the Ministry of Oil heads.

Kavir National Park is one of the most important, or we could say, the most important national park of Iran. It consists of 430,000 hectares (1,500 square miles) of natural landscapes with high levels of animal and plant diversity. Known as “Little Africa” it is home to native goats, sheep, hyenas, wolves, gazelles, the rare Asiatic Cheetah, and the Persian Leopard. It contains mountains, deserts and a salt lake at its boundary.

Oil exploration in Little Africa?

The government is insisting on starting the oil exploration project while according to the Iranian Environmental Preservation Law, any types of construction in national parks are forbidden.

However the government is confirming an allowance for starting this unlawful industrial and construction activity.

The opponents say the oil exploration project will cause environmental pollutions in the park.

It is expected that the oiling activities like exploration, digging oil wells  2,000 to 3,000 meters deep, building saturation pools, oil processing, piping, and the traffic of heavy trucks in the park will cause heavy environmental pollution in a region that is supposed to be protected.

Neglecting the environment has been experienced in the governmental activities during the past years. The results have been seen in the polluted oil and gas fields like Assalouyeh gas field in south of Iran, polluted natural landscapes and mountains, air-polluted cities, and more. Maybe the government and the parliament should be more sensitive about the environment.

It seems that it is not too late for saving Kavir National Park. Although maybe the people of Semnan province and their representatives seem to be interested to the oil project in hope of having better job horizon, but the debate of the opponents has had great results in the media.

Read more about pollution in Iran:

High Waste Generation and Low Level Recycling in Iran

Esfahan Is Almost As Polluted As Tehran

Why 27 People A Day Die From Air Pollution in Tehran

Image via Hemad

The post Oil Exploration In Iran’s Little Africa? appeared first on Green Prophet.

A joint workshop in co-operation of the Iranian National Center for Oceanography (INCO) and UNESCO was held in south east of Iran.  The purpose of the workshop has been to define the probability of occurring tsunami and to estimate the results of a tsunami in the Gulf of Oman. According to the head of INCO, Vahid Chegini, such a disaster has previously occurred in the region. In 1945 high waves hit the Iranian coast, which were caused by Mokran Fault under the sea water. The experts have examined the big stones and rocks that can be brought to the coast only by tsunami or powerful hurricanes and also interviewed with some witnesses around Chabahar Port and Jask in south east Iran. So will Iran be prepared for the next tsunami?

As elder residents of the region can remember, the heights of the waves have reached as high as 2 to 5 meters. However there is a report of 13 meter waves near the Iran-Pakistan border. At first an earthquake happened and then after one or two hours the waves reached the coast.

Prof. Emile André Okal from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, USA, has studied the documents related to the disaster. He says that as a result of the tsunami the underwater Mumbai-London telegraph cable was disconnected and also an Indian English-language newspaper had published news about thousands of people that were killed in India and Pakistan.

Of course it is not known how many were killed by the earthquake and how many by the tsunami. The Indian witnesses have reported that the height of the waves reached 15 meters.

Professor Okal has also believes that Mokran Fault can be an effective factor in causing the similar tsunami again. According to him, this can occur again but the time can not be predicted. It can be an alarm for Iran, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

The workshop attendants have announced that there is no probability of a destructive tsunami in Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea.

More environmental news on Iran:

NGOs Tell It On the Mountains in Iran (Clean Up!)

Iran Plans for Solar Energy in Tehran, But Cost’s a Limiting Factor

The Difficulties of Developing Cycling Routes in Iranian Cities

Image by Alice Chaos

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