Environmental experts say a portion of Urmia Lake in its southern side can never be filled with water again and officials have envisioned instead a plan to turn the area into a natural reserve for conservation of an endangered animal species.
Sadly, according to Masoud Tajrishi, the director for planning at the Urmia Lake Restoration Program, the elevation in the southern area's terrain will not allow its revival as a water body, but "has turned it into a good pasture" creating favorable living conditions for certain wildlife species.
He had earlier talked of plans to fence off the zone for the purpose of keeping and breeding Asiatic cheetahs.
However, Hamid Zohrabi, a deputy at the Department of Environment, dismissed the suggestion, asserting that the region will most probably serve as a wildlife reserve for conservation of the Great Bustard, an endemic bird species.
"What my colleague has said is the suggestion of the ULRP… [However,] the Natural Environment Department's specialized opinion centers on creating a reserve for indigenous species," he said, Mehr News Agency reported.
***First Priority
He stressed that the first priority is to find ways of using the lands in an optimized and sustainable way and the selection of species will come next.
"The species will be selected based on experts' opinion and the regulations governing national parks… The DOE has no intention to breed cheetahs and will most probably use the zone for the Great Bustard," he said.
Allocating a natural reserve is among the outlined strategies in the action plan for the revival of the Great Bustard and since West Azarbaijan is among its natural habitats, the southern area of the lake has been envisioned for the purpose, Zohrabi added.
A study conducted by the provincial DOE in cooperation with the academia has confirmed the zone as suitable for the purpose. Tourism, educational and research programs are also planned to be implemented in Urmia's for-ever-dead area.
Also known as Otis tarda, the Great Bustard is an omnivorous bird that breeds in open grassland and farmland. It has been ranked as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
In Iran, it was found in Hamedan, Kermanshah, East and West Azarbaijan, Kurdestan and parts of Khorasan Razavi and North Khorasan. Today, it is believed to only roam West Azarbaijan and Kurdestan.
Growing human activity, separation of habitats, destruction of eggs and cheeks during farming, destruction of vegetation, mismanagement of waste material that draws rival species and expansion of power transmission lines have caused the dramatic decline.
