Decline of Wetlands in northern Iran: Role of Climate Change and Human Intervention

Wetlands are valuable environments that provide diverse services to ecosystem and humankind. Currently they are encountering highest pressures from climate change and human intervention which led to drastic decline during the past half century. Iran’s wetlands are distributed in coastal area of north, south and in central plateau. Pollution, urban development and agricultural/livestock are common human intervention in almost all wetlands. However, mismanagement of water resources in upstream caused desiccation of many internal wetlands. Despite of dominant subtropical climate in the northern Iran, degradation and desiccation of wetlands are rapidly going to the irreversible point. Wetlands in northern Iran spread in the south Caspian shoreline, south Caspian coastal plain and in inter-mountain depressions in the northern flank of Alborz. The wetlands located along the shoreline are depend on the Caspian Sea level changes. Total area of the Caspian shoreline wetlands is around ۱۰۰,۰۰۰ km۲, where part of which with international importance enlisted in the Ramsar site. They include eight wetlands in Caspian rim countries. Their total surface area was ۹۷۴۵, ۱۳۴۱۳ and ۹۸۱۰ km۲ in sea level of ۱۹۷۸, ۱۹۹۵ and ۲۰۲۱ precatively. Degradation and desiccation of the Caspian shoreline wetlands are more visible in Iran that located in densely populated areas. The situation in wetlands located in the coastal plain are even worse that many of them desiccated for agricultural field or residential area. The inter-mountain wetlands are relatively little touched.The wetlands in northern Iran in the south Caspian coast experience significant shrinking and desiccation due to the climate change, sea level and human activities. In the current condition that rising temperature and dropping Caspian Sea level continues, reducing human stressors on the wetlands would improve wetland condition, but more durable result requires management beyond the wetlands i.e., in the catchment and coastal area for reducing human pressure.