Rojhelat environmentalists blame government inactivity for frequent forest fires

Smko Rojhelati

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The scene of forest fires in western Iran’s (Rojhelat) Zagros mountain range during the summertime has been a familiar sight for over a decade, sparking concerns for the ecosystem, with rights and environmentalist groups claiming arson and blaming the government’s inactivity for the ongoing phenomenon.

Kurdistan province’s Marivan has witnessed frequent fires over the past two months, with hundreds of volunteers arriving from across the cities of Rojhelat to help put out the fire while hundreds more raised funds to help with the process.

Chya the Green Organization was established over 20 years ago and is one of few environmentalist groups in Marivan, raising awareness of illegal logging and threats to the famous oak trees. The group comprises of hundreds of volunteers who actively work on putting out the summertime fires out of a sense of nationalism and love for their homeland.

As the fire rages in the mountains, Jamishd*, a former member of the organization, speaks about the main factors for the fires in the area, as well as his frustration with the lack of interference from the government to put an end to them.

He claims that 100 percent of Marivan’s fires over the past 15 years have all been arsons, saying “researches have shown that Kurdistan’s geography is not prone to wildfires.”

According to Jamshid, military and security forces often set up bases outside of the cities and burn the surrounding forest under the pretext of security concerns, but do not act to control the fires and they end up burning large areas of land.

“Environmentalists have filed complaints to military institutions on this regard but they have not been met with a response,” he added.

Another cause for the fires according to the environmentalist is people trying to illegally take over pieces of land in the forests by burning and then claiming the area as their property.

Jamshid also mentioned that environmentalist groups have recorded a large number of incidents being instigated simply by arsonists for no apparent security or financial reason. Accidents account for a small number of the fires in the area.

Environmentalists say the limiting of water flow due to the building of dams, and the cutting down of trees in the area have contributed to spread of the fires.

Fires have burnt over 2,000 dunams of land in Marivan over the past week.

“We believe the government has exhibited no will to control the forest fires, otherwise they have the means to stop 90 percent of the incidents,” decried Jamshid, saying it should not be an environmentalist’s responsibility to put out the fires.

“The government could be doing a lot of thing which it is not doing, or it is so weak that its actions do not make a permanent impact.”

The government could help control the phenomenon by forbidding military units from using security concerns as excuse to set the forests on fire, and enforcing strict penalties for those who commit arson, according to Jamshid.

“But the government is not doing any of that, making it a partner of the enemies of environment.”

He also called on the people to do whatever is in their powers to help put an end to this phenomenon through attempting to stop arsonists if they catch them in the act, as well as putting pressure on relevant authorities to penalize the violators.

Despite not receiving any direct threats from security forces, Jamshid says that environmentalists in Rojhelat are often subjected to a lot of pressure and propaganda accusing them of receiving funds from certain political parties.

On August 25, 2018, Sharif Bawajor and Omed Konaposhi, members of Chya the Green Organization, died as they were trying to control a forest fire with two members of the forestry police just outside of Mariwan.

Jamshid said they are convinced their fellow volunteers were murdered, but they do not yet have any evidence to support their suspicions.

“I, and most of the members, believe that their death was not normal… Those two have been in thousands of similar fires, therefore it is unacceptable for us to believe they would die in such a fire, but we have not been able to prove it yet.”

Marivan and nearby areas experience around 250 fire incidents every year on average. In 2010, almost 1,000 separate incidents were recorded. In addition to Marivan, the cities of Paveh, Ilam, and Kermanshah have also experienced frequent fires over the past five years.

*The name Jamshid is an alias chosen by the author
 
Translated and written by Chenar Chalak