Nayband Marine Park

Nayband Bay lies on the southern coast of Bushehr province, near the town of Asaluyeh, where the low hills meet the Persian Gulf. In 2004 the bay, its coast and the surrounding waters were declared Iran’s first national marine park, protecting a mix of sea, mangrove, beach and desert of around 50,000 hectares.

The park’s best-known feature is its mangrove forest of grey mangrove, Avicennia marina, known locally as harra. The trees grow in the shallow, salty water of the bay, their roots sending up breathing shoots through the mud at low tide. These are among the most northerly mangroves in the world, and they shelter young fish and shrimp and feed many birds. Flamingos, herons and other migrating birds gather in the bay through the winter.

Along the shore, sea turtles come to nest on the beaches, among them the endangered hawksbill, and coral grows in the waters off the coast. The park also takes in the rocky cape of Nayband, looking out over the open Gulf.

The park sits beside one of the largest industrial zones in Iran, the gas installations of the South Pars field at Asaluyeh, and conservationists have long warned of the pressures this brings. For local fishermen and visitors alike, Nayband is a reminder of the richness of the Gulf coast, where mangrove, reef and desert meet in a single bay.