TEHRAN – The ancient traditional gardens of Qazvin (Baghestan) has received the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) certificate awarded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Currently, there are six designated sites in Iran, ranking the country fourth in the world. China, Japan, and South Korea, with 25,17, and 9 sites, are placed first to third.
The 2025 GIAHS Award Ceremony took place on October 31 at FAO headquarters in Rome, within the celebrations of FAO’s 80th Anniversary. The event celebrated 28 new agricultural heritage designations across 14 countries, bringing the total number of globally recognized heritage systems to 102.
Under the FAO’s GIAHS program, the selection criteria stipulate that sites must be of global importance, have value as a public good, supporting food and livelihood security, agro-biodiversity, sustainable knowledge systems and practices, social values and culture, as well as outstanding landscapes.
The GIAHS sites in Iran include Qanat Irrigated Agricultural Heritage Systems in Kashan, Qanat-based Saffron Farming System in Gonabad, Grape Production System in Jowzan Valley, Estahban Rainfed Fig Orchards Heritage System in Fars Province, Traditional Walnut Agricultural System in Tuyserkan, in Hamedan Province, and Ancient Traditional Gardens of Qazvin Baghestan.
The traditional Gardens of Qazvin are a flood-spreading system that dates back thousands of years, when the city of Qazvin developed. Situated in the foothills of the Alborz ranges, the creation of the gardens surrounding the city has protected its inhabitants from floods, adapting to and taking advantage of the watershed to produce nuts and local delicacies.
Baghestan hosts a rich agrobiodiversity where approximately 100 local varieties of pistachio, almond, grape, apricot, walnut, and plum trees coexist. Grape, pistachio, and almonds represent the species with the highest number of local and endemic varieties. For instance, 25 varieties of grapes have been identified, which trace their history back to the 16th century.
Launched by FAO at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and formally endorsed as a FAO corporate programme in 2015, the GIAHS initiative identifies and safeguards remarkable agricultural systems where communities maintain an intricate relationship with their territories.
Evolving and resilient, they are characterized by agrobiodiversity, traditional knowledge, invaluable cultures, and unique landscapes, sustainably managed by farmers, herders, fisherfolk, and forest people in ways that support livelihoods, adaptive management, and knowledge exchange.
MT/MG
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