In line with the efforts to protect Iran’s lakes, the organization has devised a local environmental plan to save Lake Urmia, Mohammad-Javad Mohammadizadeh told the Mehr News Agency.
The administration has endorsed the plan and put it on its agenda, he added.
He also called on the people and NGOs to make efforts to raise environmental awareness about the condition of Lake Urmia.
“Due to the critical condition of this body of water, a special committee has been established. Two vice presidents, the ministers of energy, housing and urban development, and agriculture, as well as three governors of the neighboring provinces are members of this committee,” he stated.
Last week twenty Majlis lawmakers wrote a letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for immediate action to prevent the environmental degradation of the body of water.
Experts have long warned that natural factors, coupled with human activity, would cause Lake Urmia to dry up in the near future if nothing is done.
The surface of the salt water lake has recently turned red due to a phenomenon known as red tide.
Lake Urmia, which is located in northwestern Iran, has a surface area of approximately 5,200 square kilometers.
UNESCO has registered Lake Urmia as a Biosphere Reserve, and it is listed as a wetland of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention.
It is one of the largest natural habitats for the tiny Artemia, which is a genus of aquatic crustacean that serves as a food source for flamingos and other migratory birds.
HJ/PA
END
MNA
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