Mangrove forest reserves of the Northwest Indian Ocean including the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf
Location: Boushehr, Hormozgan and Sistan-Baluchistan Provinces
Main characteristics:
- 9,200 hectares traditionally managed by the respective traditional communities including indigenous Baluch, Arab and Bandari ethnic groups who have had their own customary governance systems and a rich indigenous knowledge of these habitats. The respective communities protect the mangrove forests and use them sustainably for camel browsing, fishing, wood and non-timber forest products;
- The only habitat of tidal zones of tropical coastal areas in Iran;
- Two species of mangrove trees: Avicennia marina and Rhizopora mucrinata, the latter being in Sirik coves with limited coverage. The rest is Avicennia marina;
- In the past, the use of mangrove wood was for fuel, but now its leaves are used for livestock grazing (especially camel feed) and its flowers for making honey;
- Because of mangrove special aquatic habitat, it is used for shrimp breeding and other aquatic species breeding;
- The Mangroves of Khamir and Qeshm region are protected areas and they are the only coastal biosphere reserves in southern waters of the country;
- Mangrove forests in the Chabahar and Male-Ganzeh are located in Mand and Bahu Kalat protected areas;
- Three habitats of Mangrove forests are in the list of international wetlands in Ramsar Convention (habitats located in Khamir-Qeshm, Tiyab-o-Kolahi and Sirik coves;
- Mangrove forests habitats distribution in Bushehr province (in northern coastal zones of Persian Gulf), are very rare even on a global scale and are the last distribution of such habitats in northwest coastal areas of the Indian Ocean.
Reference: UNDP-GEF-SGP. nd. Various SGP project’s documents on: Community Empowerment for Mangrove Conservation in south of Iran. UNDP-GEF-SGP, Tehran.
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