Abstract
Despite the paramount role of drylands in supporting people’s livelihoods and rendering ecosystem services, legislation on Environmental Impact Assessment has been introduced belatedly after several decades. By exemplifying Iran, the author proposes two main reasons for such a delayed action. First, drylands are misleadingly considered as barren lands where biodiversity is relatively low. In one classification, deserts are even categorized along with rocks. Second, the author emphasizes that drylands have been subjected to unprecedented changes due to the expansion of infrastructure and urbanization that started in the 1970s. These growing pressures have been beyond the ecological resilience of drylands and have not been monitored, assessed, and modified correctly. Further scrutiny regarding EIA undertakings in drylands and the way they can be improved is now needed.
Highlights
Faculty of Life & Health Sciences, School of Geography & Environmental Sciences, Ulster University, Abstract: Despite the paramount role of drylands in supporting people’s livelihoods and rendering ecosystem services, legislation on Environmental Impact Assessment has been introduced belatedly after several decades
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The most prominent failed wildlife conservation case is attributed to Australia [18], a largely dryland country which has experienced over two centuries of destructive pastoralism and mining activities at large-scale
Summary
There is clear evidence that adaptation to harsh climate and low water resources has been part of the mindsets of people living in Iranian dryland territory over millennia. The earliest documented resiliency (adaptation) technique to cope with water scarcity in drylands is known as ‘Qanat’, a system consisting of interconnected long underground water canals This system still exists (notably in Iran) and can hold precious water for longer durations for agricultural purposes. Iran’s pristine Hyrcanian (northern) forests, dating back to as early as 1916 when the Government decided to survey and map these Northern forests [12] It was followed by a series of other important national legislation on environmental conservation, including legal hunting regulations in 1956 [11]. National Development plan in 1994 [15], even though Iran is regarded as a global niche and biodiversity hotspot, hosting various important flora and fauna species [14] To evaluate such EIA gaps, the case of Iran will be looked at in the broader context of drylands as a whole
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