The importance of the Hyrcanian forests, along with the growing wave of environmental concerns about their protection, as well as certain political orientations, led to the Iran’s Sixth Development Plan law banning any timber utilization of forest trees. This ban, which became known as the Forest Breathing Plan, has been viewed by many forest experts as a disregard for the multiple functions of forests, a weakening of Principle 45 of the Constitution, destruction of national wealth and Anfal, layoffs of workers, forest rangers, and chainsaw technicians, leaving them in the abyss of inaction and unemployment, and sometimes creating or strengthening a sense of revenge  against the forests and the Natural Resources and Watershed Organization, manifesting in  aiding, accessary or stewardship in the crime of timber smuggling. In contrast, the main arguments of those in favor of the Breathing Plan focused on banning forest harvesting, citing the need to protect the Hyrcanian forests as a biosphere reserve, avoiding encroachment on  forests by relying on supplying the required wood through imports and tree plantations, allocating budget for forest protection by Parliament, and similar matters. Either way the cessation of wood harvesting from forest trees has led to a shortage of wood production, increased demand from the wood industry, and rising prices. As a result of local poverty  and the greed of some smugglers, the forests have become vulnerable to timber smuggling. This situation undermines the establishment of environmental justice between those who commit smuggling for subsistence purposes compared to professional smugglers. The present study attempts to examine the perspectives of forest guards of the Rostam-Abad Natural Resources Unit in dealing with timber smuggling, using open and semi-structured focus group interview techniques. The interview was recorded and transcribed in Word software and analyzed with NVivo software. From the perspective of the Forest Security Unit, the most important reason for resorting to smuggling is the high profits from selling smuggled timber. Also, the lack of organizational transportation vehicles and the lack of legal protection against smugglers are among the most important challenges for the guards. In their opinion, spreading a culture of respect to environment, seeking help from local people, making a sense of belonging to the forest in forest dwellers, and being aware of the heavy fines for timber smuggling are the most important social and cultural solutions to combat this crime. Additionally, the main policy to combat timber smuggling is stated to be inter-sectoral cooperation between organizations. According to interviewees, the performance of the Natural Resources Organization in combating timber smuggling is considered successful and acceptable, especially after the increase in the number of security companies since 2018. Finally, the research concludes that revising the implementation of the Breathing Plan and the cessation of forest timber utilization, amending laws related to tree felling and formulation of new and positive policies to combat timber smuggling, are among the most important solutions  in the southern forests of Guilan province.