FAO in collaboration with Iran’s Urmia Lake Restoration Program held the Inception Workshop (December 4, 2017) for “Integrated Programme for Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Urmia Lake Basin” to share the work plan with the Iranian stakeholders and officially start the implementation phase of the project.

According to a press release published by the FAO Representation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, In his opening remarks, Mr. Rao Matta, FAO Representative ad interim to Islamic Republic of Iran and the Chief Technical Advisor of the project highlighted the vital necessity of a “a more holistic approach guided by the requisite technical expertise” to redress the predicament faced in the management of the natural resources of the Urmia Lake basin.

Mr. Matta, added that Together with the Urmia Lake Restoration Program and national stakeholders, “we shall strive within the framework of integrated programme lifecycle to implement a series of immediate measures needed to address the primary causes of water depletion in the lake itself and in its surrounding basin.”

The Inception Workshop was conducted in Tehran after a consultative workshop (April 2017) and two assessment missions (July and October 2017) within the framework of the project. During the workshop, FAO international experts offered their insights regarding major components of the project namely water accounting, enhanced agriculture productivity, more sustainable livelihoods, drought monitoring and warning, and watershed management.

In the workshop experts from IHE-UNESC as the largest international graduate water education facility in the world, International Trade Center (ITC), International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), and the University of British Colombia in Canada presented their Ideas and Suggestions.