Forest Plantation in the West of Golestan Province: Current Situation and Challenges, Suggestions for Improvement

Extended Abstract Background: Regarding the reduction of forests in the world due to the destruction of forests and fires and the adverse effects of drought and climate change, forest plantation is one of the strategic approaches for protecting and enriching forests. Forest plantations are a very small percentage of the global forest area. According to the estimates, half of the world's industrial wood is supplied by forest plantations. In addition to revitalizing areas, forest plantations moderate climate, prevent soil erosion and air pollution, and create recreational areas. It also prevents soil degradation in dry lands by planting compatible species. In the long term, it will also meet the needs of mankind and reduce the pressure of exploitation of natural forests, and performing some ecosystem services and making changes in the physicochemical properties of the soil and biochemical cycles are the other benefits. Nowadays, its importance has increased due to meeting the growing needs of the pulp and paper industry through afforestation with fast-growing species and limiting the harvesting of wood from natural forests, hence more studies in this field have become inevitable. Unlike many countries, Iran's forest plantation areas do not have production goals and are often in the form of projects with different goals, such as the development of existing forests, desertification and sand stabilization, green spaces on the edge of industries and factories, green spaces, forest parks, and urban forestry, and their collections are mentioned and reported as annual forestry works. Despite the great variety of species used in forestry according to the diverse ecological conditions in Iran, there is no integrated management for the forest plantations of the country. On the other hand, there is no documented information about the process of quantitative and qualitative changes in these forestry operations, and the studies conducted in academic and research societies have often been in the form of case studies and cross-sectional surveys using temporary sampling systems. In line with the strategic policies of the Forestry and Pasture Research Institute of Iran and to create up-to-date and accurate database of the state of forest plantations in Golestan province, forest plantations in the west of Golestan province, including the cities of Gorgan, Aliabad, Kurdkoi, Bandargaz, Aq-Qala, Bandar Turkeman, and Gomishan, were evaluated to investigate the current situation and challenges and present suggestions for improvement. Methods: At first, forest plantations in the west of Golestan Province (including Gorgan, Aliabad, Kurdkoi, Bandargaz, Aq-Qala, Bandar Turkeman, and Gomishan) were identified and analyzed based on the archival information of Iran's forests, pastures, and watershed management organization, the general departments of natural resources and watershed management of the province, and the natural resources departments of Golestan Province. Investigations were performed by recording a forest plantation form, including extracting information such as the history and area of afforestation, identification of the type of planted species, identification of compatible species, evaluation of restoration and reclamation operations, and finally, analysis of the forest plantation program, considering the principle of achieving predetermined goals. An initial database of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of forestry in the west of Golestan Province was formed with the implementation of this project. Then, by preparing an initial database of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of forest plantations in the west of Golestan Province, all the quantitative and descriptive information recorded in the ArcMap software was converted into a digital map of carried-out forest plantations separately for each city. Then, the data were summarized and presented in the form of a research manuscript. Results: The ratio of the forest plantation area to the city area in the western cities of Golestan Province was 0.05, and the biggest forest plantation area was in Bandargaz (0.02) compared to the area of the city. The ratio of the forest plantation area to the city area in the surveyed cities was in the order of Bandargaz, Aliabad, Kordkoy, Gorgan, Aq-Qala, Bandar Turkeman, and Gomishan. Compared to the west, most of the forest plantations were done in the east of Golestan Province (83%) due to the existance of more areas suitable for forest plantation. A greater area of forest plantation was carried out in the cities of Gorgan and Aliabad, and the area of forest plantation was zero in the cities of Aq-Qala, Bandar Turkeman, and Gamishan, which indicates the inappropriate distribution of forest plantations in the cities of the province. The main species of forest trees in the west of the province often included Cupressus sempervirens Horizontalis, Cupressus arizonica, Pinus brutia, Quercus castanifolia, Alnus subcordata, etc. Among all forest plantation projects in the west of the province, the Shast Kelate forest plantation project was more successful than all the projects due to the complete protection of this project, as well as the prevention of livestock and wood smuggling. Among the less successful projects was the Ghorogh forest plantation project, where most of the social problems were observed such that many damage to the trees was caused by native people and passengers. On the other hand, a large area of plantation forests has been lost due to its location in the vicinity of agricultural land, encroachment on plantation forest lands, and extensive smuggling. On the other hand, the presence of livestock in the field and the lack of forester have affected the success of this project due to the lack of monitoring and investigating forest plantation projects. Conclusion: According to the success of the projects and the study of their challenges, suitable management solutions recommended for forest plantation projects in the west of the province are to increase the social acceptance of the projects, continuous care and maintenance, and the necessity of pruning in many forestry plantations, the exit of coniferous species and entering broad-leaf species, employing more foresters, considering the ecological potential of the field in revitalization and reforestation, continuous monitoring of these forest plantation projects, proper management of the projects, and harvesting of hand-planted forestry to the useful age.