Editing Iran (section)

=== Biodiversity ===
{{See also|Wildlife of Iran|List of national parks and protected areas of Iran|Forests of Iran}}
[[File:Persian Leopard sitting.jpg|thumb|[[Persian leopard]], native to the [[Iranian Plateau]]]]
More than one-tenth of the country is [[forest]]ed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iranian Journal of Forest – 4th National Forest Conference of Iran |url=https://www.ijf-isaforestry.ir/news?newsCode=1782&lang=en |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=www.ijf-isaforestry.ir |archive-date=8 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508112629/https://www.ijf-isaforestry.ir/news?newsCode=1782&lang=en |url-status=live}}</ref> About 120 million hectares of forests and fields are government-owned for national exploitation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kernan |first=Henry S. |date=1957 |title=Forest Management in Iran |journal=Middle East Journal |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=198–202 |jstor=4322899}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sotoudeh Foumani |first1=B. |last2=Rostami Shahraji |first2=T. |last3=Mohammadi Limaei |first3=S. |date=1 June 2017 |title=Role of political power in forest administration policy of Iran |url=https://cjes.guilan.ac.ir/article_2374.html |journal=Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=181–199 |doi=10.22124/cjes.2017.2374 |issn=1735-3033 |access-date=8 May 2024 |archive-date=8 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508112630/https://cjes.guilan.ac.ir/article_2374.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Iran's forests can be divided into five vegetation regions: [[Hyrcanian forests|Hyrcanian region]] which forms the green belt of the north side of the country; the [[Turan]] region, which are mainly scattered in the centre of Iran; [[Zagros Mountains|Zagros region]], which mainly contains oak forests in the west; the [[Persian Gulf|Persian Gulf region]], which is scattered in the southern coastal belt; the [[Arasbaran|Arasbarani region]], which contains rare and unique species. More than 8,200 [[plant]] species are grown. The land covered by natural flora is four times that of Europe's.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran Wildlife and Nature – including flora and fauna and their natural habitats. |url=http://www.aitotours.com/aboutiran/20/wildlife---nature/default.aspx |access-date=5 May 2024 |website=www.aitotours.com |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505152636/http://www.aitotours.com/aboutiran/20/wildlife---nature/default.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref> There are over 200 protected areas to preserve biodiversity and wildlife, with over 30 being [[national park]]s.

Iran's living fauna includes 34 [[bat]] species, [[Indian grey mongoose]], [[small Indian mongoose]], [[golden jackal]], [[Indian wolf]], [[fox]]es, [[striped hyena]], [[leopard]], [[Eurasian lynx]], [[brown bear]] and [[Asian black bear]]. [[Ungulate]] species include [[wild boar]], [[urial]], [[Armenian mouflon]], [[red deer]], and [[goitered gazelle]].<ref name="Fast2005">{{cite book |author=April Fast |title=Iran: The Land |url=https://archive.org/details/iranland0000fast |url-access=registration |year=2005 |publisher=Crabtree Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-7787-9315-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/iranland0000fast/page/31 31]}}</ref><ref name="Firouz2005">{{cite book |author=Eskandar Firouz |title=The Complete Fauna of Iran |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2EZCScFXloC&pg=PP1 |year=2005 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-85043-946-2}}</ref> One of the most famous animals is the critically endangered [[Asiatic cheetah]], which survives only in Iran. Iran lost all its [[Asiatic lion]]s and the extinct [[Caspian tiger]]s by the early 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |author=Guggisberg, C.A.W. |year=1961 |title=Simba: The Life of the Lion |publisher=Howard Timmins, Cape Town}}</ref> Domestic ungulates are represented by [[sheep]], [[goat]], [[cattle]], [[horse]], [[water buffalo]], [[donkey]] and [[camel]]. Iran is home to more than 570 bird species like [[pheasant]], [[partridge]], [[stork]], [[eagle]]s and [[falcon]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Firouz |first=Eskander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2EZCScFXloC&pg=PP1 |title=The Complete Fauna of Iran |date=14 October 2005 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-85043-946-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Humphreys |first1=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esV0hccod0kC&pg=PP1 |title=The Lion and the Gazelle: The Mammals and Birds of Iran |last2=Kahrom |first2=Esmail |date=31 December 1997 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-86064-229-6 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bird Checklists of the World: Iran |url=https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/checklist.jsp?region=IR |website=Avibase |access-date=17 April 2025}}</ref>