Chitgar and other forest parks of Tehran are being revived

For some time now, there has been a discussion about the cutting of trees in Tehran's forest parks; On the other hand, an aerial picture of the latest state of the trees in Chitgar Forest Park was recently published and it tells about the widespread cutting of trees in this area. But why are Tehran's forest parks in such a state of disrepair and who is responsible for the current situation?

According to Ambassador Arjan-Mehdi Esmailpour, there has been a discussion about the cutting of trees in Tehran's forest parks for some time. On the other hand, an aerial picture of the latest state of the trees in Chitgar Forest Park was recently published and it tells about the widespread cutting of trees in this area. But why are Tehran's forest parks in such a state of disrepair and who is responsible for the current situation? Also, what fate awaits Chitgar Forest Park and other forest parks in Tehran? In this report, we are looking for an answer to all these questions.

Is the responsibility of forest parks with the municipality?

Seeing the pictures of Chitgar Park, perhaps the first question that concerns the mind of the audience is that the municipality was responsible for cutting down the infested trees and the city administration committed a violation in this regard? This repeated question has a repeated answer; The municipality is only a user of forest parks and is not allowed to interfere in it, even to the extent of planting or cutting a tree, without the permission of the main owner and custodian, i.e. the Natural Resources Organization. Mohammad Saber Baghkhanipour, Director General of Environment and Sustainable Development of Tehran Municipality also emphasizes this issue: "The municipality is only an operator of forest parks. The ownership and principle of management of this complex is the responsibility of the Natural Resources Organization, and in the meantime, Natural Resources has left only the exploitation of these spaces to the municipality.

Which tree, when to cut, is the next question? Even where to transfer the cut trees is a question for some. "The trees that are going to be cut are all marked by natural resources," says Bagkhanipour. Natural Resources determines which trees should be cut down and oversees their relocation. It is very important to know that the municipality cannot cut or move a tree on its own and cannot decide which tree should be cut or not."

The next point and question is about the reason for the widespread infestation of trees in Chitgar Forest Park and other forest parks. Has the lack of action in maintaining them caused such a fate for Tehran's 50-60-year-old forest parks? In this regard, we see different and sometimes contradictory views and opinions. In the meantime, some people consider the inconsistency between the agencies in the management of forest parks as the main cause of this situation. Alireza Nadali, the spokesperson of Tehran City Council, says: "Cooperation between agencies such as the Natural Resources Organization and ABFA has never been done properly, and inconsistencies between agencies have caused damage to forest parks. The responsibility for this situation cannot be solely blamed on a device; However, some members of the council have criticized the municipality, and in the meantime, they should be heard."

Irrigation problem or negligence in cutting infected trees?

Now, there are 2 main points of view regarding this problem; One is a shortcoming in watering the trees and the other is a shortcoming and late action to fight the pest by cutting and destroying the infected trees; Because at first, a small part of Chitgar and Sorkhehsar forest parks was plagued. After experts' investigations, they came to the conclusion that the infested trees and stumps should be removed from the park as soon as possible in order to deal with this pest and prevent its spread to other trees. Because simply spraying the trees could not solve the problem; Also, spraying should have been done at the same time, and the dry trees affected by this pest should also be removed from the park to prevent the spread of the pest. The municipality acted quickly in this regard, but since the natural resources organization is the custodian and owner of the forest parks, when Tehran municipality faced this problem, it quickly announced to the natural resources organization that these trees should be cut and removed from the park; But the delay in quick and timely action caused the pest to spread and many trees were infected.

The ball is in the field of the Natural Resources Organization

Contrary to the opinion of some critics who believe that the main problem lies in the irrigation and maintenance of trees, Mehdi Babaei, a member of the Tehran City Council, does not blame the municipality on the issue of irrigation and maintenance: "With this hypothesis, does this mean that we have irrigated the entire city of Tehran and only for 2 forest parks, Chitgar and Sorkhehsar, one in the east of Tehran and the other in the west of Tehran do not have water?" Babaei criticizes the performance of the Natural Resources Organization in dealing with tree pests in Chitgar and Sarkhehsar parks: "The delay in starting the process of cutting down and transporting the infected trees has caused the spread of the pest in these two parks; So that the municipality was forced to use the capacity of the judiciary to initiate the necessary measures. When the Tehran Municipality faced this problem, it immediately announced to the Natural Resources Organization that these trees should be cut down and removed from the park. The municipality quickly took action and analysis to resolve this concern; But unfortunately, the natural resources in this area were neglected many times and this pest spread and covered different parts of these 2 parks.

There is also a third point of view that looks for the main problem when creating forest parks. Bagkhanipour, Director General of Environment of Tehran Municipality, says in this regard: "When it was decided to create green corridors in the east and west of the capital, 2 fundamental mistakes happened, the effects of which we see today; One of the big mistakes was that a non-native species was planted in Tehran. A non-native species can cause several problems; It will age sooner, be more vulnerable and even show different biological reactions in the environment. Unfortunately, this issue was not observed at that time and Eldarika pine was planted in Tehran, which was not suitable for this geographical location. The second mistake, which was even bigger than the first mistake, was not respecting species diversity and biodiversity in planting trees in forest parks. At that time, only pine trees were planted. When there is no biodiversity, with the arrival of a pest, the entire area of the forest park can become tense; This is what we are witnessing today."

The pest of the bark-eating beetle killed the trees of Tehran

Bagkhanipour states several factors as the reason for the current state of forest parks: "The trees aged earlier due to being non-native. On the other hand, climatic conditions have also undergone extensive changes and Tehran has faced a decrease in rainfall in these years. Irrigation has not had suitable conditions for several decades, and all these factors have caused this non-native species to suffer stress and disease, and coniferous species such as pine, after entering continuous stress and tension conditions, are no longer able to return, and drought is certain. Currently, we are facing the skin-eating cockroach pest in Tehran city. "The trees have become vulnerable due to being non-native, and on the other hand, because biodiversity has not been observed, a large part of the cultivated area has faced this pest."

Has there been negligence in watering the trees of Chitgar Forest Park? Bagkhanipour rejects this issue: "They don't irrigate forests anywhere in the world. It is definitely not the right way for us to create a man-made forest and irrigate it for life. You will not find any forest in the world, whether natural or cultivated, that is permanently irrigated. When we call a complex a forest, like Chitgar, we are no longer supposed to irrigate it for 100 or 200 years if a tree lives for 100 or 200 years. This is not common in the world. When a tree is planted in an environment, it is usually protected and watered for the first 3 to 5 years to establish the sapling. "After the tree is fully established and alive, watering is stopped and the tree must be self-supporting."

If we skip these debates, which seem to be caused by political settlement with the Tehran municipality, and if we get rid of the cycle of finding cause and effect, there is a bigger and more important question and concern, and is it that we are going to witness the destruction of Tehran's forest parks, including Chitgar? In response to this question, Bagkhanipour informs about planting a few saplings instead of every cut tree: "In front of every tree that is cut down, a few new trees will definitely be planted. At least 3 to 10 saplings are planted for each cut tree. Of course, this time the mistakes of the past will not be repeated. This means that non-native trees will no longer be allowed to be planted, and native trees, compatible with the current climate of Tehran and resistant to drought, will definitely be planted.