Climate change adaptation is a key priority in the sustainable management of Iran’s natural resources. As a country with extensive arid and semi-arid areas, Iran is highly exposed to drought, land degradation, wind erosion, floods, sand and dust storms, vegetation decline, soil erosion and increasing pressure on fragile ecosystems.
The Islamic Republic of Iran prepared its National Climate Change Strategy in 2016 with an emphasis on both mitigation and adaptation. Within this framework, the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization implements adaptation-related programs through increasing vegetation cover, afforestation, rehabilitation of degraded lands, sustainable forest and rangeland management, watershed management, desertification control and soil and water conservation.
Watershed-based measures are among the most important tools for adapting to climate change. The Organization’s activities include identifying and monitoring landslides, studying and implementing landslide stabilization measures, preparing inventory maps of gully erosion, monitoring and stabilizing gully erosion, and defining watershed management projects in areas affected by land subsidence. These actions help reduce climate-related hazards and strengthen the resilience of watersheds.
In arid and semi-arid regions, adaptation is closely linked to combating desertification, reducing wind erosion and restoring degraded lands. The Organization implements desert management and wind erosion control measures such as seedling plantation, runoff management, sediment traps, living and non-living windbreaks, enclosure and protection, mulching where appropriate, seeding and management of planted forests. These measures help protect soil, improve vegetation cover and reduce the vulnerability of local communities to drought and dust storms.
Rangeland management is also an important part of climate adaptation. Through grazing regulation, restoration of soil and vegetation, biological and biomechanical measures, development of forage, industrial and medicinal plants, and multi-purpose rangeland management, the Organization seeks to reduce pressure on rangelands and support production systems that are compatible with ecological conditions.
Community-based approaches are central to effective adaptation. The Carbon Sequestration Project and the Rehabilitation of Forest Landscapes and Degraded Lands Project have provided practical models for restoring degraded natural resources in dry and semi-dry areas, strengthening local participation, improving rural livelihoods, increasing resilience to drought and promoting coordinated watershed-level rural development.
Through scientific planning, field implementation, ecosystem restoration, local community participation and international cooperation, the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization seeks to reduce the vulnerability of Iran’s natural landscapes to climate change and support resilient ecosystems, sustainable livelihoods and long-term ecological security.
