Layered analysis of the causes of instability in Iranian wetlands

Wetlands, as one of the richest ecosystems on earth, have the most biological diversity. Nowadays, with the passing of time and the human population growth, the harvesting of wetlands and the resources of their surrounding lands has been carried out with high intensity and volume causing irreparable impacts to the body of the wetland; therefore, out of a total of 1028 international wetlands registered, 55 wetlands are in the Monterey list, which includes about 5% of the total area of wetlands. Meanwhile, Iran is in an unstable situation with 6 wetlands under serious threat. Accordingly, investigating the causes of the instability of Iran's wetlands is an issue addressed by the current research which tries to examine and study these causes at a level beyond what has been addressed so far. Therefore, aided by the method of layered analysis of the causes, which is based on the future of research, it has studied and examined the causes of the instability of wetlands in Iran at four levels: litany, system, discourse, and metaphor. The geographical area under study was the entire wetlands of Iran, and the statistical population was experts and pundits in the field of environment and wetlands at two levels, executive experts and researchers. The results of the research revealed that the root of the instability of Iran's wetlands should be sought at a level beyond the primary and tangible layers. Meaning that what has caused the balance disturbance of wetlands ecosystem of Iran is not only economic, social, managerial, and environmental-physical factors but also the influence of the belief of humanism, which means centralizing humans in nature and the formation of a commoditized, instrumental and economic discourse to wetlands.