Yukihiro Kobayashi made the remarks at a signing ceremony of a project on capacity building for management of forest and rangelands in the upstream of Karun river basin in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“The agreement was finally sealed between JICA and Iran following six months of unceasing effort,” underlined the official.
He recalled the history of cooperation between the two sides which dates back to 2002 since when four projects have been implemented adding “due to the importance of Karun river, it seems essential to carry out upstream projects for Karun Dam.”
He added: "Given the history of cooperation we have had with Iran since 2002 and the four previous projects with Iran, it seems that it is essential for the Karoun River to implement the upstream project of Karoun Dam.
Director of the JICA office in Iran added “considering the huge volume of water covering seven Iranian provinces, 70,000 square kilometers of Karun's upstream areas doubles the significance of the issue.”
“It is therefore crucial and indispensable to apply reforms to drainage projects and conservation methods,” he underlined.
Kobayashi later stated that a participatory management project was implemented over six and a half years in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari forests as a pilot project aimed at restoring vegetation in the pilot areas of the province. Eventually, upon completion of the project, natural resources of the Iranian province were introduced as the premier in the field of natural resources.
With a length of 950 kilometers, Karun is Iran's most effluent and only navigable river. It rises in the Zard Kuh mountains of the Bakhtiari district in the Zagros Range, receiving many tributaries, such as the Dez and the Kuhrang, before passing through the capital of the Khuzestan Province of Iran, the city of Ahvaz before emptying to its mouth into Shatt al-Arab though it continues toward the Persian Gulf.
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