UNESCO adds Iranian forest to World Heritage List

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee voted Friday to add Iran’sHyrcanian forests to its World Heritage List, praising the area for its”remarkable” biodiversity.

The ancient Hyrcanian forests in northern Iran run 530 miles(850 kilometres) along the coast of the Caspian Sea, according to the globalbody. “Their floristic biodiversity is remarkable,” UNESCO said, withsome 44 per cent of Iran’s known vascular plants found in the Hyrcanian area.

   

The forests, which date back up to 50 million years, arealso home to the Persian leopard and nearly 60 other mammal species, as well as160 bird species.

They were just one of two natural sites added to the UNESCOlist on Friday, the other in China, when the World Heritage Committee met inAzerbaijan’s capital of Baku.

Iran’s only other natural site listed by UNESCO is the LutDesert in the country’s southwest, which gained the status three years ago.

The Islamic republic also has 22 cultural sites on the WorldHeritage List, including the jewel of the first Persian empire Persepolis.

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