Habitats are among the most important of natural spaces, as human life and survival depend indirectly on them. A great majority of food crops, water, and oxygen consumed by humans – even in urban areas – represent the output of ecosystems. Environmental destruction and manipulation (such as the clearing of forest, grassland, wetland, and protected areas) is widespread, and proceeds at a rapid clip in Iran. The continuation of this process will soon supplant land with desert – not a place suitable for living. Simultaneously, wildlife and habitat may represent themselves a source of considerable profit: developing plans for ecotourism could promise both job and wealth creation. Thus it is that we will take up the following themes for examination and discussion in this course: the importance of ecosystems, envreasonable, sustainable methods of making use of them.
Just as is apparent from the title, the issue taken up in this course is that of water shortages. We...
