From a socio-economic perspective (soil conservation, water quality and other non-market ecosystem services), the Zagros forests are a valuable forest ecosystem in Iran, expanding from West Azarbaijan to Fars provinces. These forests cover an area about 5,500,000 ha) approximately 40% of Iran’s forests( as reported by Iran’s Forests, Range & Watershed Organization and the main tree species include Persian oak (Quercus brantii Lindl.), Lebanon oak(Quercus libani Oliv.) and Gall oak (Quercus infectoria Oliv.). Based on the distribution of oak species, the Zagros forests has been divided into northern (including forests of West Azarbaijan, Kurdistan, and parts of Kermanshah and Lorestan provinces, which include mentioned three oak species) and southern Zagros (from Lorestan to the Fars provinces, which include only Persian oak). The Iran’s Forests, Range & Watershed Organization (FRWO) banned any utilization from these forests since 1962 and considers them as preserved and protected ecosystems, however traditional uses (i.e., pollarding , charcoal production, resin extraction from wild pistachio trees (Pistacia atlantica Desf.), livestock grazing, harvesting of non-wood forest products (i.e. oak acorns, gall varieties, manna: a sweet sap from oak trees( and agriculture in the forest floor) of these forests by local communities are still common. One of the problems of traditional livestock farming in Zagros forests is the shortage of rangelands and animal fodder, especially in cold seasons. In order to adapt their livelihood to natural difficulties and limitations, local people have innovated pollarding of forest trees. In this traditional management, each rural family traditionally owns an area of the forest (up to 40 ha) and divide it into three parts. Each year a part is used to perform pollarding to provide winter fodder. Pollarding is conducted from mid-September onward (before the fall time) in a way that forest dwellers cut leafy branches of oak trees, which are mainly Lebanon oak and Gall oak, and store them on big trees, on the ground or on rock fragments in a cone-shaped form. In winter, dried leafy branches are used to feed livestock (especially goat and sheep). Resin extraction from wild pistachio trees is an extant agroforestry practice in Western Iran. The traditional resin extraction from wild pistachio trees dates back to a very prehistoric time. Wild pistachio trees have a great value and importance due to resin exploitation used in the production of pharmaceutical and sanitary materials. The resin extracted from the trunk of the wild pistachio trees contains turpentine that is one of the most valuable oils used in various industries. In the Northern Zagros Forests, the total number of exploitable wild pistachio trees is divided amongst rural households for resin exploitation. In the traditional method of resin exploitation, a large number of cuts are created on the bark of trunk and main branches of the wild pistachio trees (dbh ≥ 5 cm), and the leaked resin is collected in clayey bowls. From each wild pistachio tree, on average, 287 g of resin are extracted. The resin exploitation starts in mid-June and continues until mid-July. Charcoal production takes place both inside the village and inside the forest areas. Selection of forest area for charcoal production activity are performed on the basis of the following criteria: (i) existence of dead trees (including naturally dead trees and standing trees cut down by local farmers in the year prior to charcoal making), (ii) location outside pollarding areas, and (iii) forest areas that are not in sight (to avoid punishment). Charcoal making is carried out using three types of kilns (i.e., earth kilns, barrel kilns and tanker kilns). Earth kilns are used inside the forest, tanker kilns are used inside the village and barrel kilns are used both in village and forest. Quercus libani, Q. brantii, and Q. infectoria are used for charcoal production in order of importance. I
