According to the Public Relations Center of the Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization, Dr. Vahid stated in this meeting: Collaboration and synergy between execution, policymaking, and academia are very beneficial in advancing the goals of natural resources. The presence of members from various research and academic sectors can guide sustainable land management in the right direction.

Vahid added: The Integrated watershed management is addressed in the seventh development plan, and the organization's program and budget have directly intervened to focus heavily on natural and biological resources.

The acting director of the National Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization enumerated the significant potential and capacity of the forest, pasture, and desert regions as crucial resources. He stated: Good coordination has not been established with watershed residents, and on the other hand, climate change and the implementation of some unbalanced public and civil projects in the field of natural resources have posed challenges in the environmental sector today.

 Effective natural resource management requires a proper strategy!

Vahid also recalled: Today, we are facing challenges in the "Sistan" and "Aras" watersheds and in 25 million hectares of border watershed areas, which require proper management strategies in these areas. The International Center for integrated Watershed Management can play an influential role in these matters.

Vahid mentioned that there are around 240 million hectares of critical wind erosion zones around our country, and 14 million hectares of desertification zones are within our borders, with concentrated dust storms from the "ghara ghum" desert of Turkmenistan affecting not only the cities in Golestan province but also the east of Mazandaran province. To tackle these environmental challenges and land degradation, part of which is related to desertification and climate change conventions, and some zones are within the country that require comprehensive watershed management attention.

There is no way other than protecting natural resources!

Continuing his remarks in the first session of the Strategic Council of Comprehensive Watershed Management, Dr. Vahid emphasized: Land degradation, desertification, soil erosion, land subsidence, and decline in groundwater tables are significant challenges in natural resources and the environment today and are expanding. We have no solution other than natural resource conservation, especially forests and pastures, to address the current situation.

He noted that the annual rainfall volume in the country is approximately 400 billion cubic meters, of which only a quarter, about 100 billion cubic meters, is accessible, while the remaining 300 billion cubic meters are lost due to evaporation and other factors beyond our reach.

Moreover, in the continuation of his remarks, he stated that a crucial aspect of comprehensive watershed management is coherence, where the International Center for Comprehensive Management can connect solutions and experiences inside and outside the country to aid in reducing water evaporation and removal.

The acting director of the National Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization emphasized the foundation of sustainable planning in natural resource areas and the necessity of national and international strengthening and leveraging the significant capacities and experiences existing in the country.

The Strategic Council is the powerful section of the International Center for Integrated Watershed Management

Dr. Hamid Nouri, the head of the International Center for Comprehensive Watershed Management and Biological Resources in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions, considered the strategic council as the powerful arm of the International Center for Comprehensive Watershed Management and declared: This council requires cooperation and coordination between the institutions and organizations that play a role between and paying attention to climate change, biodiversity and desertification requires the participation and synergy of these institutions.

Dr. Noori, who was presenting his PowerPoint online for the attendees of this meeting and outside the meeting, pointed to the cooperation agreement between the International Watershed Management Center and the Faculty of Natural Resources of Tehran University and added: Based on this agreement, the first climate change park UNESCO has been established in Iran.Nouri continues his presentation by stating that the Faculty of Natural Resources of Tehran University has been introduced as one of the specialized committees of the center in the education department, to carry out joint cooperation in the field of applied research, scientific conferences and monitoring and evaluation of natural resource areas affected by the phenomenon of climate change in order to reduce Vulnerability and promotion of adaptation and resilience of the affected sectors were emphasized

Integrated Watershed Management should be the basis of sustainable planning in the field of natural resources

In the continuation of the first meeting of the strategic council of integrated watershed management, Dr. Hassan Ahmadi, the head of the Department of Agricultural Sciences, mentioned the attention to the integrated management of the watershed as the basis of sustainable planning in the fields of natural resources and the necessity and strengthening of national and international as well as the use of experiences. and emphasized the significant capacities that exist in the country

This university professor welcomed the initiatives taken in establishing the Climate Change Park in Talqan, emphasizing the identification and assessment of indigenous knowledge processes and the use of the Academy of Sciences' capacity as crucial.

In this meeting, heads of relevant specialist committees from the International integrated Watershed Management Center at Gorgan University, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran University, and the Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Center, as well as other members of the Strategic Council from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNESCO, and other strategic council members, presented their proposed plans in line with the missions outlined in the council's resolutions.