The United Nations Resident Coordinator and the UNDP Resident Representative Iran spoke to the Iranist about climate change, preservation efforts to save Lake Urmia, and what might surprise you about the Islamic Republic.

The United Nations World Wildlife Day 2017 (WWD2017) will be celebrated on 3 March under the theme “Listen to the young voices”. The CITES Secretariat, as the facilitator for the global celebration of the Day, launched today a photo competition for the youth around the world titled “Through young eyes”.

Following its decision to deliver its own self-assessment report, in July 2017, on progress made on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Iran has engaged in consultations on the way in which the report will be prepared. On 9 January, here in Tehran, Iran’s National Committee on Sustainable Development (NCSD) – the entity overseeing SDG implementation in Iran – consulted extensively with civil society organizations, academia, the private sector and the United Nations, on the contents of the report and how Iran would, in future, hold itself accountable to the international community on SDG implementation.

On his first day at the helm of the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres today pledged to make 2017 a year for peace.

The Caspian Hyrcanian Mixed Forest Ecoregion is listed by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) as a Global 200 Ecoregion. It represents important biodiversity and landscape values that provide multiple environmental, social and economic benefits to the Iranian people.

The Carbon Sequestration Project (CSP) aims to sequester atmospheric carbon in arid and semi-arid areas of Iran and improve the socio-economic status of local communities. It uses a community-based natural resources development approach.

The second phase of the Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project builds on the results and achievements of the initial Wetlands Project launched in 2005 and funded by the Global Environment Facility. The second phase expands the project throughout the country. The goal is to enhance the sustainability of Iran’s wetland protected areas and conserve its globally-significant biodiversity.

The Cheetah Project is about reversing the decline of the endangered Asiatic Cheetah and saving it from extinction. It is now estimated that fewer than 100 Asiatic Cheetahs are living in the wild in Iran. The numbers appear to be rising in the northern habitats of Miandasht and Touran. It is believed that this is attributable, in part, to the vigilance and the enhanced morale of the game guards who try to protect the animals from poachers.

The Central Zagros Mountains contain globally significant biodiversity. Topographical relief and climatic conditions have led to diverse ecosystems and habitats in the area. This has created a home for a vast range of species, which includes over 2,000 species of higher plants and several endangered and endemic mammal species.

Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recently visited Iran and attended an event at the Department of Environment where he launched a SDGs book.