The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has allocated six million dollars for protection of four internationally recognized lagoons in Iran, deputy governor-general of Shiraz province, Masoud Emami, was quoted as saying by the Iranian News Agency (IRNA).
"So far, about 350,000 dollars of the fund have been provided which will be spent to study the project," Emami said.
According to the provincial official, the four internationally recognized lagoons are Arzhan Lake in the province of Fars, Miyankaleh in the Caspian province of Mazandaran, Orumiyeh Lake in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan and Khoran Bay in the southern province of Hormuzgan.
"The project to protect and develop the lagoons will contribute to the promotion of tourism and will create additional jobs," he said, adding that it will assist local people earn more money through the use of local water resources and nearby woods.
In 1999, UNDP and Iran signed the 'Program for Sustainable Management of Land and Water Resources.'
According to the agreement, three pilot projects are planned in the near future: desertification control, watershed management and irrigation improvement. Special attention to participatory approaches and rural communities will actively involve women, who assume a central role in agricultural production, said the UN organization in a press release published at that time.
"This will directly benefit poor households often tilling land which has been run down due to poor water and land management practices," said the release -- Albawaba.com
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