Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 29/ Trend G.Mehdi/
Iran plans to curb the potential encroachment of some 6 million hectares area of desert lands by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (March 2016), IRNA quoted director of Iran's forests, pastures, and watershed management organization Alireza Orangi as saying.
Over 400 billion rials will be allocated to 23 provinces to implement plans to curb desertification, he noted.
Some 2.5 million hectares area of lands has so far been prevented from being turned into deserts through planting saplings and spreading mulch, he added.
In September, director of the department for water and wastewater affairs at the ministry of energy Alireza Dayemi stated that precipitations have decreased to the lowest level since the past five years in the central parts of Iran, causing drought in the region.
"The average annual rainfall has dropped from 251 millimeters to 200 millimeters," Dayemi told the Mehr News Agency.
"The irregular exploitation of underground and surface waters is also another reason for the drought in the central parts of the country," he said.
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