Forest restoration and development program in Kurdistan province; Challenges and related scientific-practical programs

Background and Objective: The forests of Zagros have always had a special place in the lives and livelihoods of local communities, and the benefits of these forests have led to the high dependence of forest dwellers on forest resources. Unprincipled exploitation in most areas has reduced the forest canopy cover and the quantitative and qualitative parameters of trees, and has doubled the importance of the forest restoration and development program in the Zagros vegetation zone. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the forest restoration and development program in Kurdistan Province; identify the most important challenges and develop scientific-practical programs for this program.
Materials and Methods: To describe the current state (States) of the forest restoration and development program, the ten-year statistics and performance of Kurdistan province in the forest restoration and development program were reviewed and evaluated, then the pressure factors, driving forces, complications and management responses were evaluated. The reduction in the area of forests and pastures of the province in a ten-year period, the performance statistics of the General Directorate of Natural Resources and Watershed Management of Kurdistan province in a ten-year period (2010-2020) were evaluated. By field monitoring of the afforestation operations carried out in the following year (the second year after planting) and the fifth year after planting, the status of the establishment of afforestation operations and seeding operations carried out in holes of different dimensions (from 30 centimeters to one square meter) were examined. Then, with the information obtained, a DEPSIR framework was developed for the forest restoration and development program in Kurdistan Province, and the DEPSIR framework was then put at the disposal of 25 forestry experts, experienced individuals, and villagers from local communities.
Findings: The results showed that after five years of planting seedlings in catchment surface systems and deep pits (with dimensions of 100 cm), they had an establishment rate of more than 40 percent, and the use of planting pits with dimensions of 70×70×70 cm and 100×100×100 cm and the use of catchment surface systems increased the establishment of seedlings. Other findings showed that in a ten-year period, the area of forests and pastures in the province has decreased by 32.2 and 15.6 percent. The current status of ecosystems in the restoration and development program showed that in a ten-year period, the highest level of total afforestation (all cases) took place in 2016 and 2019 (2925 and 2555 hectares, respectively), and afforestation through forest expansion with seedlings and forest enrichment with seeds covered 28 and 21 percent of the total afforestation implemented, respectively. Depsir's analysis showed that the most important driving and effective factors in shaping the current situation were: 1- low income level (poverty), 2- increase in the value of property and agricultural areas in the last few years,, Kurdistan Province has implemented 700 hectares of annual wood cultivation, 1,200 hectares of afforestation, allocating 25 percent of watershed management credits to biological activities, and a share of more than 60 percent of wood cultivation in the One Billion Campaign in Kurdistan Province as management responses.
Conclusion: Based on the research findings, strengthening the Natural Resources Conservation Unit (in order to protect natural resources and reduce the destruction of these resources), principled forest restoration and development using catchment surface systems (planting seedlings in deep holes (with dimensions of one square meter) and planting seeds of pioneer species in the hole ridge), and developing a maintenance program for afforestation carried out in a period of 2 to 5 years after planting (monitoring and irrigation program in summer) are recommended for Kurdistan Province and other northern Zagros provinces.