Review of State Laws and Regulations on Forests and Rangelands

This manuscript is an effort to compile and review the laws and regulations at the state level related to forests and rangelands. This was accomplished by collecting the laws adopted by the National Consultative Assembly (prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979), the Islamic Consultative Assembly (after the Revolution), the Council of Ministers, the Supreme Administrative Council, and the Supreme Council on Urban Development and Architecture of Iran spanning the period from 1962 when the forests and rangelands were nationalized up to the present. Initially, the topics and areas related to forests and rangelands covered in these documents were identified. These included issues concerning nationalization of forests, natural woodlands, and rangelands; the procedures for the nationalization process; protection, rehabilitation, and exploitation of forests and rangelands; penalties and compensations related to offences and encroachments; and assignment of forests and rangelands to other land uses. The Forest and Rangeland Nationalization Act of 1962 brought decisive changes in the legal and management system of renewable natural resources at the state level while it gave their ownership, save for exceptional cases, to the national government. The Law on Conservation and Exploitation of Forests and Rangelands of 1967 passed by the National Consultative Assembly is the most important Act that developed a legal framework for the management of natural resources at the state level. The laws formulating methodologies and procedures for dedicating forests and range lands to development schemes account for the greatest portion of the laws adopted after the Act of 1962. There are, however, some shortcomings in the existing legislation such as the neglect of indigenous knowledge and its effects on the restoration, development, and protection of forests and rangelands. On the other hand, the laws on natural resources and lands overlap in certain areas as they lead to ambiguities on whether a certain land should be considered as nationalized or deserted. Legal definitions of forests and rangelands may be generally solicited in the adoptions and acts by the National Consultative Assembly and the Council of Ministers.