Role of governmental policies in forest degradation and sediment transportation to the Caspian Sea

Abstract

Deforestation in Iran has been more rapid in the past 50 years than at any time in Iran’s history. Forests play a vital role in sustaining water resources and aquatic ecosystems. Forest disturbance, both natural (e.g. wildfire, insects, disease, wind-storms, drought) and human (e.g. timber harvesting, land conversion) caused, can have a profound effect on hydrologic, geomorphic and ecologic processes. With climate change, natural disturbances are becoming more frequent and catastrophic. This, together with growing human disturbance, will undoubtedly affect water re-sources and consequently have significant implications for land managers and pol-icy makers. Intensive cultivation and mismanagement have caused environmental problems and soil degradation. Soils which developed under natural forests in north Iran have been degraded by land-use changes. Forests protect water quality by slowing runoff, stabilizing soils and filtering pollutants. Conversion of forest land to other uses interrupts these natural processes and increases the potential for water quality impairment. Since soil erosion and sediment redistribution have implications for both soil and water resources, and scientists have established that the movements of soil, sediment and water are intrinsically linked, it is critical to im-plement integrated resource protection strategies. Erosion, transport and sedimen-tation processes gain increasingly importance in socio – economic and ecological respect. In this research land use, land cover maps were prepared, using satellite imagery and aerial photos during the last 50 year. The rate of land use changes was compared with rate of sedimentation. Parallel with this work forest policy in Iran during different development plans using policy cycle method was analyzed and actors were recognized. Then the policies in development plans before and after Islamic revolution compared with prepared maps, results showed that government development plans didn’t apply according to the program and forest degradation and consequently sedimentation was increased in study area during the time.