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SECTION 5. IMPORTANT ISSUES 5-1 Sustainable use of natural Resources, depletion, wasteful practices Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Tackling the threats to the human environment – notably water, soil and air – is a complex problem. A comprehensive approach is needed to take into account a wide range of issues relating to management, legislation, education and institution-building, and would have to comprise two sets of measures. Macro-level measures would address the complete range of issues involved in I.R. Iran’s human environment problem as a whole, while provisional level measures would focus on making improvements in sectors related to water, soil and air.
Macro-level Measures A number of measures are recommended at the macro level to strengthen environmental management in I.R. Iran so that the challenges the country is facing can be tackled effectively. Restructure and strengthen the Department of the Environment and its affiliated institutions and committees on order to increase their ability to carry out the provisions of Articles 43 and 50 of the constitution as well as Agenda 21, regarding the well being of the environment. Conduct comprehensive studies aimed at developing the laws, regulations, and quantitative/qualitative standards needed to achieve the environmental goals. Assess the environmental impact of current and future development projects. Adopt an “ecosystemic” approach to urban development, particularly in planning municipal services and infrastructure such as transportation, housing, communications, sewerage systems and commercial areas and industrial parks. Use economic tools such as imposing taxes to reduce water, soil and air pollution; raising prices to curb excessive consumption of fossil fuels; and fining polluters. Use educational programmes and media campaigns to enhance public awareness of environmental pollution. Gradually phase out subsidies on fossil fuels.
Provisional Level preventive Measures
5-2 Marine pollution and water quality Main Sources of Pollution entering into the marine environment could be categorized as follows: A) Surface Waters Rivers carry pollutants to the sea. More than 90% of pollution is therefore related to the rivers. These rivers carry effluent and sewage, from the industrial complex to the lowlands. Along their path, the rivers also tab the agricultural wastes and transfer them down stream. All sorts of pollutants, may be found in the composition of the water e.g. hydrocarbon, artificial compounds, organic matter, metals, nutrients, etc. Self refinement, is not reliable in these environments, and occasionally concentration of pollutants is ten times the standard level.
B) Effluent Transfer of the pollutants, produced by factories, farms, and residential areas, by the rivers threatens the ecosystem of the sea. Occasionally, large amounts of pollutant are injected into a small area such as the estuary which kills all types of marine life. Storm, waves, wind may create such a situation. Uncontrolled use of fertilizers may enrich the rivers and lakes and render it vulnerable to eutriphication. This may cause growth of sea weeds and reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water. This phenomenon is seen in Anzali complex. Pesticides are eventually carried to the rivers and marshes, concentration of harmful metals such as mercury increases and it is passed to the different levels of food chain. Fish are the eventual consumers and man is the receiver of the contamination. Lead, is also added to the waters by the effluent of battery making factories, paint producing factories, etc. This element also find its way into the food chain including human beings. Mercury is used in industries such as mirror making, electronics industry, plastic manufacturing. Cadmium like wise is used in battery making factories, plastic manufacturing, etc. All these elements have detrimental impact on humans health. Thermal pollution raises the temperature of water and kills off the marine organisms.
C) Oil Pollution Discharge of large volumes of oil into water, threatens the aquatic environment. Increase in the oil exploration and exploitation activities in the Caspian Sea is the main source of the oil pollution. Traffic of super tankers in the Caspian, increases the discharge of oil products. Different stages of oil exploration and exploitationcauses heavy damages to the environment. Marshes in the Southern Caspian region are well known as breeding and resting habitats for birds. Oil pollution adversely affects the populations of these birds. Pollution interferes with breeding biology of birds and eventually kills them. Oil damages the marine life both, in the water and ashore.
D) Sea Transport: Large numbers of vessels travers the Caspian Sea. Each of these vessels, produce oil slick and all together, they pollute the waters. These vessels, have to tab large volumes of water in their tanks, to keep their balance on the water. When this water is discharged, all types of oil products (ballasting and deballasting), are released into the sea. Sometimes vessel traffic includes transportation of animals also. Noise pollution is also associated to the oil production and movements of the ships.
E) Harbours and Anchor Sites These are the most polluted sites in the Caspian. Harbour activities (e.g. cleanning, service, etc.) render the harbors un-hospitable to the marine life.
F) Urban and Industrial Development Increase in the population of cities in the coastal areas, resulted in an increase in the residential units and this has resulted in over production of sewage, and urban waste. Industrial waste, hospital waste and laboratory effluent are all produced in large volumes. Mixing of these effluent with drinking water, occurs as a result of surface waters, entering the wells. The water level, is high, close to the surface and run off, and often easily mixes with the underground water and sewage. This spreads epidemic infectious desease among the people.
G) Interference with Nature Sand excavation changes the behavior of rivers. Obtaining each ton of sand, yields 200 kg of small, fine particles. These materials are released into the rivers. For some river, this may exceed 4 tons/day. If the suspended particles reach threshold of 100 mg/l. 85% of benthic creatures are lost. Harvest of the shells form the beaches, changes the slope, changes the birds habitat, destroys the top soil and causes soil erosion, changes in the course of rivers and building embattlement, stops fish migration. Altered embankment will also impact the environment and causes soil erosion. Presence of soil particles in the water, decreases the light penetration and affects rate of photosynthesis in the water. 5-3 Human health and well-being From 1960 to 1995, Iran’s human development index (HDI) indicators increased 0.452, moving Iran from the group of countries considered to have low human development to the ranks of those states enjoying medium human development as explained in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 Iran’s HDI 1960 -1995 The trend of growth in Iran’s HDI in the past decade (from 0.642 to 0.758), has not been constant. There was a slight decline in 1995 and 1997. Advances in the national HDI are rooted both in the process of modernization and the changes wrought in the last 20 years. The transformation of the social environment has significantly affected income, education and health (the three basic components of HDI), bringing not only progress but also challenges to the country. Before the revolution, GDP per capita expanded at a rate equal to 150% from $1,985 in 1960 to $ 4,970 in 1976. After the revolution growth slowed but in the second decade it rose from $ 3,715 to $ 5,222 (Table 1) There are wide disparities in human development at the provincial level (Table 2). In 1990, some provinces including Tehran, Gilan and Mazandaran and Golestan enjoyed higher levels of human development than many other provinces. This gap, largely explained by the different levels of gross expenditure per capita, derives from the scope of opportunity, investment and economic resources available in the provinces. According to the table above, Gilan province is among the higher growth provinces and Mazandaran is listed in the medium range. Poverty distribution among the provinces is similarly uneven: It follows that provinces enjoying a higher level of human development have a lower level of poverty. Table 3 delineates the gap between the richest and poorest provinces according to their ranking on the gross expenditure per capita index. The respective HDI, human poverty index (HPI), gender development index (GDI) and gender empowerment measure (GEM) have been correlated and the positive difference shows that a particular province ranks higher on these indexes than the gross expenditure per capita index, while a negative difference indicates the reverse. 5-4 Ecological health and biological diversity 5-5 Waste Management 5-6 Legal framework for protection and management of coastal areas 5-7 Public Participation in planning and management The public participation in environmental affairs and the help it can give the government are tremendously important in environmental management today. In I.R. Iran, youth, women, the owners of production and industrial units and non-governmental associations are all involved in efforts to protect the environment. Youth participation embraces the “Young Cooperators” scheme, school meetings in environmental issues and the work of environmental activists in schools. Women’s participation in environmental affairs has been less significant, however. There are many opportunities to enlist women’s involvement by raising their awareness of environmental issues such as the hazards caused by detergents and other domestic products and by improper use of agricultural chemicals in rural areas. The role of industrial and production units in reducing environmental pollution has not been institutionalized, but managers of these units could, by rigorously applying environmental standards, play an important part in decreasing the inappropriate discharge of industrial effluent as well as limiting harmful factory emissions. Although non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with environmental issues are not yet sufficiently developed, there are signs that they are on the increase. Existing environmental NGOs include the Green Front, which was established in 1991, the Association of Environmental Specialists, and the Women’s Society for the Campaign against Environmental Pollution, founded in 1994. These groups have been engaged primarily in educational and publicity activities. Given the enormity and nature if the environmental challenges facing Caspian region, it is essential for ordinary people to get involved in preventing pollution and managing environmental issues. Indeed, it will simply be impossible to solve many of the current environmental problems without the enthusiastic public input, especially in coastal region of Caspian, where the whole area is populated and all lands are used for agricultural or other purposes adjustment to the sea. The active participation and cooperation of the industrial and manufacturing sectors is also vital, given the role of industrial pollutants in pollution as a whole. The commitment of producers and manufacturers to observing environmental standards strictly is a basic requirement of enforcing laws aimed at preventing air, water and soil pollution and protecting Caspian’s natural environment. The establishment and expansion of environmental consultancy firms to advise producers and manufacturers on their compliance with these standards is of special importance here. Since public awareness of environmental issues plays a crucial role in preventing pollution, NGOs involved in awareness-raising need to be supported by the government and particularly by the Department of the Environment. Another way to secure NGO participation in environmental affairs is to have NGOs include environmental objectives in their national terms of reference. The mass media also have an absolutely key part to play in heightening public awareness of environmental issues and promoting public participation in environmental protection. 5-8 Administrative, planning, management and research capability |
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