In the last 30 years, 110 Iranian park rangers have been killed. Environmental bloggers pay tribute.
Despite certain joint environmental initiatives between its government and that of Qatar, Iran really needs its nature lovers and advocates. Twenty-seven people die a day as a result of the Tehran’s pollution, its national parks are strewn with rubbish, and iconic natural monuments such as Lake Orumiyeh are in deep trouble.
And yet, park rangers over the decades have been the target of uncalled-for violence. Global Voices report that four men were recently shot dead in a village in Sanandaj in Iran’s Kuridstan. In response, an environmentally-themed website invited bloggers to say their piece.
In Lor‘s blog we read [fa]:
What are the reasons for the death of six park rangers in one year? The responsibility of all pro-environment activists is clear. We should support these park rangers in order to prevent such events in future.
Rifr blog says [fa]
What happened that these four park rangers should deserve to die? Their guns were not ready and it shows they did not expect such an attack. We should remember that in the last 30 years, 110 park rangers were killed and 450 others were handicapped.
Avaye Mohitezit Iran writes [fa]:
One of the victims was Kamal Hussein Panahi, a student of natural resources. He shared his experience with other students. Is it right that a nature and environment lover and keeper should become a target of bullets?
Tabiatbakhtiari writes [fa]:
Has the moral foundation of our society collapsed so much that people get killed for protecting our environment.
Khbarnationalpark writes that Iranian park pangers are denied the basic human rights.
Why were the rangers killed? The Iranian website Abna blames counter-revolutionary forces (terrorists):
The bodies of the rangers, who had gone for patrol on Friday, were found by a mountain climber, Moradi told ISNA on Saturday.
Explaining that the rangers had been killed by fire arms, Moradi added that “initial investigations show that this terrorist attack has been carried out by counter-revolutionary elements.”
According to the investigations, the rangers’ pickup truck was thrown into one of the valleys in the area, and their bodies were abandoned in the forest, Moradi said.
The bloggers’ excerpts were taken from Global Voices (via Green Wave) in the hopes of driving awareness of how people put their lives at risk for the benefit of not only mother nature, but the rest of us.
More environmental news from Iran:
Iran and Qatar Align To Help The Environment
Iran’s Lake Orumiyeh Is In Trouble
Iran and Qatar Make Bio-Lateral Ties For The Birds
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Since I don’t read Farsi, I can’t get a good sense either Arwa. I realize that’s not very helpful, hey?
I read it was about terrorism.
Thanks for raising awareness about this impo issue Taf, although I still don’t quite understand why they were targeted…? 110 rangers over 30 years- that seems quite a lot