Forest and Rangeland ecosystem services contribute to human welfare, both directly and indirectly. It is now widely accepted that natural ecosystems besides producing timber, seeds, fodder and a few other marketable non-wood products, also produce ecosystem services that provide benefits to human society in general and biodiversity issues in particular. The benefits that we gain from biodiversity go far beyond the mere provision of raw materials. The Zagros Mountains are located in the southwest of the Iranian Plateau. The Mountains are about 1600 km long and 200-300 km wide and contain several ecosystems. Prominent among them are the forest and steppe forest areas, which have a semi-arid temperate climate. The annual precipitation there ranges from 400 mm to 800 mm, and falls mostly in the winter and spring. The Zagros Mountains have supported a very rich variety of fauna and flora.

Every decision we take that affects biodiversity, also affects our lives and the lives of other people. Biodiversity is crucial to human wellbeing, sustainable development and poverty reduction.

 The current conference is an attempt to make an exchange of knowledge and experiences among German alumni and interested scientists, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers to develop effective and sustainable strategic plans to manage biodiversity issues in Zagros region. The meeting in 2012 is intended to focus on “Biodiversity in Zagros Region” which covers the following topics:

1.  Biodiversity Management

2. Climate Change and Biodiversity

3. Biodiversity in Forests and Rangelands

4.Biodiversity,Land degradation and Desertification

5. Landuse Change and Biodiversity

6. RS/GIS Techniques in Biodiversity Studies

 7. Ecohydrology/Water Resources and Biodiversity

8. Socio-Economic Issues and Biodiversity

9. Wildlife Biodiversity

The abstracts and full papers will be reviewed by a group of Iranian and German academic peer reviewers. The abstracts and full papers should be submitted online via the website of the meeting: