The forests of Golestan are once again burning due to negligence.
Zahra Keshvari, an environmental journalist, wrote in a report that Zagros, which accounts for half of the country’s forest fires, has become more vulnerable than ever due to a lack of equipment, ineffective supervision, and ignoring warnings.
According to Hossein Zafari, the deputy of the Crisis Management Organization, the statistics of fires in Golestan forests are concerning.
Ali Maleki Ahangaran, the commander of the Natural Resources Protection Unit, announced that over 95% of the fires have human origins, including motives such as revenge, local disputes, or farmers’ carelessness.
In Fars province, about 50 people have been arrested on charges of arson.
Ahangaran warned about the recurrence of these incidents and identified the lack of cultural awareness, weak equipment, and the failure to implement fire prevention plans as the main reasons for the crisis.
According to him, the cameras distributed among the provinces were never installed and are now out of order.
Only 9 out of 41 aerial firefighting bases have been established, and the lack of funding is the main obstacle to fully implementing these plans.
Ahangaran said that annually about 1,500 billion tomans in damages are caused by fires, but the promised funds have not yet been allocated.
He urged people to call 1504 or 139 if they see smoke or fire.