Wildfires raging for a week in Iran, Hyrcanian Forest heritage site damaged

A wildfire burning for more than a week in drought-stricken Iran has destroyed parts of the ancient Hyrcanian Forests, a Unesco World Heritage Site that shelters many endangered species. On Sunday, Turkey deployed aircraft at Iran’s request to assist in fighting the blaze in one of the world’s oldest forests, according to Iranian state media. Local authorities said they had contained most of the fire, which they have been tackling in the country’s north.

Iran has been facing an escalating series of environmental, political and economic challenges this year. The country is enduring its worst drought in more than 60 years, leaving water supplies in Tehran and Mashhad nearly exhausted. The government is also recovering from a 12-day war in June, during which strikes by Israel and the United States damaged nuclear and military facilities. Its economic crisis has deepened after the failure to reach a new agreement on limiting its nuclear programme led to the reinstatement of United Nations economic sanctions.

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The wildfire swept through part of the forest in Mazandaran Province, and a local natural resources protection unit told state media on Sunday that firefighters had contained 80 per cent of the blaze. Officials believe the fire was man-made and spread quickly across the drought-stricken region.

The Hyrcanian Forests stretch across mountains and coastline along the Caspian Sea between Azerbaijan and Iran, with origins dating back 25 to 50 million years, according to UNESCO. The woodlands provide vital habitat for numerous birds and mammals, including the endangered Persian leopard, and contain rare tree species that are hundreds of years old.

Mojtaba Sadegh, a climate and wildfire expert at Boise State University, said the Hyrcanian Forests are among the oldest and most biodiverse ecosystems globally. A fire of this scale in late autumn, he noted, signals the increasing vulnerability of the forests to intense fire activity even beyond the hottest months.

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Climate pressures heighten public anger

Iranians are growing increasingly anxious about the accelerating impact of climate change. Climate experts say Iran is warming faster than the global average, with temperatures repeatedly reaching 122 degrees Fahrenheit this summer. Poor water and agricultural management have compounded the effects of climate change, according to policy experts.

Water shortages have become so severe that supplies in the capital have been rationed for weeks, and officials have asked the public to pray for rain. As firefighters worked to contain the Hyrcanian blaze, another fire broke out in forestland near the city of Jolfa in northwestern Iran, state media reported.

Satellite imagery from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration indicates that nearly 1,500 acres of the Hyrcanian Forests have burnt, prompting uproar among Iranians who criticised what they viewed as a slow government response to protecting a national heritage site.

“We cannot let government negligence and indifference destroy any more of Iran’s national heritage,” Iranian activist and Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi wrote on X. She called on the United Nations and other international agencies to support local environmental activists fighting the blaze.