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as much as 80% of the forest that existed in Iran during the 1970s is now gone, resulting in flooding, erosion and desertification. Wildlife has been pushed into ever-decreasing areas and, as numbers have fallen, competition for prey has become critical. These problems have been exacerbated by a land tenure act passed in the 1980s that changed millennia of land-use practice. Traditionally rangelands were grazed seasonally by nomadic tribes, but tenure over rangelands is now obtained by regular cultivation of land, regardless of its suitability. The government is aware of the problem and school children have planted millions of trees in a high-profile campaign in recent years. This explains the neat rows of spindly eucalypts emerging from the desert that you might see as you race by in your bus.

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Following a disastrous drought in the late 1990s, Iran has built dozens of new dams, for both water storage and hydroelectricity.

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Pollution

Chronic air pollution is the environmental problem you’re most likely to notice while travelling in Iran. Tehran is one of the most polluted cities on earth Click here and as industry and car ownership expand in regional cities, the air is becoming more poisonous across the country. In Tehran in 2005–06, as many as 10,000 people are thought to have died from illnesses relating to chronic pollution, which one senior official described as ‘a collective suicide’. Iran’s pollution problem is worse for having been ignored until it reached crisis point. Much of the air pollution is eminently preventable, with about 70% being emitted from vehicles, including millions of frighteningly inefficient Paykans. The good news is that the Iranian government has taken several dramatic steps to force its people into realising the impact of this culture. The most important, and controversial, has been raising fuel prices (though whether the motivation was environmental or geopolitical is debatable). Iranians tend to believe that cheap fuel is their birthright, however raising the petrol price by 25% – to a whopping IR1000 a litre (or €0.08) – and rationing consumption has resulted in some Iranians taking their cars off the road. However, you do get the feeling that prices will need to rise further to persuade Iranians that there is value in pursuing efficiency. The same applies to natural gas, which Iran possesses in vast quantities – it’s not uncommon to find gas burning under samovars all day. There are other problems. The Persian Gulf has been repeatedly contaminated by leaks from oil rigs and tankers, untreated sewage and overly rapid development on the islands of Kish and Qeshm. Pollution in the Caspian Sea is a problem that now threatens the internationally recognised wetlands of the Anzali Lagoon at Bandar-e Anzali.

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Tehran

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HISTORY

ORIENTATION

INFORMATION

DANGERS & ANNOYANCES

SIGHTS

SLEEPING

EATING

ENTERTAINMENT

SHOPPING

GETTING THERE & AWAY

GETTING AROUND

AROUND TEHRAN

HOLY SHRINE OF IMAM KHOMEINI

BEHESHT-E ZAHRA

REY

MT DAMAVAND

ALBORZ SKI RESORTS

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With its relatively short history, ugly masks of concrete and smog, and manic streets flowing hot with machines, many travellers and no small number of Tehranis will tell you there’s no reason to hang around in the capital. But to take their advice is to miss out. For while Esfahan or Persepolis could mount a convincing case for being the soul of Iran, Tehran is indisputably its big, loud, chaotic, dynamic and ugly beating heart.

This tightly packed city of about 15 million is where change happens first. Politically and socially it’s Iran’s cutting edge, and from the relatively bold fashion statements of its youth to the range of restaurants, cafés and art galleries, as a visitor you can’t help but notice.

However, Tehran is also a city of contrasts that play out on geographic lines. It is modern and traditional, secular and religious, rich and poor – north and south. Most of the spark comes from the affluent north, but wander through southern Tehran and