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Iran
Smoke rises from a wildfire in the rugged mountainous Hawraman region of Iran in June 2020. File photo: Rudaw
Erbil, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan province in western Iran saw a dramatic decline in destruction caused by wildfires this year, according to the top official for the preservation of forests and grasslands.
“Last year, 271 fires broke out in the grasslands and the forests in the province, destroying 2,658 hectares,” Saadi Naqshbandi, head of Natural Resources and Watershed Management, was quoted by state run agency IRNA. “However, this year the number dropped to 1,436 hectares.”
The renowned oak tree forests in Kurdistan province and other predominantly Kurdish areas in western Iran have seen “considerable degradation” in recent decades, mainly due to wildfires caused by human error, security tensions between Iranian security forces and Kurdish opposition groups, as well as deliberate deforestation by locals. At least 83 hectares of forest were destroyed this year in wildfires, down from 108 hectares in 2019.
There are several possibilities for why there were fewer destructive fires this year. Restrictions on movement imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic meant fewer people were holidaying in the mountainous areas. And there is a growing awareness in the Kurdish areas about the need to protect the environment. This is despite pressure on Iran’s environmental movement.
Iranian authorities appear to intentionally hamper the work of conservationists and environment campaigners by frequently imprisoning them on trumped-up charges such as spying for the West or working with a hostile state. "Highly respected conservationists in Iran face torture, unfair trials on fabricated charges, and prolonged arbitrary detention,” Richard Pearshouse, head of crises and environment at Amnesty International, told National Geographic Magazine in November. “Iran’s revolutionary guards and courts have effectively obliterated the civic space required for legitimate wildlife conservation."
The fires have also caused several tragic deaths.
In June, three environmentalists were killed in a wildfire in the Hawraman region of Kermanshah province, across the border from the Kurdistan Region’s Halabja province.
Another four environmental activists died in 2018 in Mariwan city after trying to put out fires caused by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) bombardments of suspected positions of Kurdish armed opposition groups hiding in the area.
Kurdistan province’s forests, predominantly oak, are part of the Zagros forest system in the west of the country that covers an area of about 6 million hectares, some 3.5 percent of Iran’s total area.
“Last year, 271 fires broke out in the grasslands and the forests in the province, destroying 2,658 hectares,” Saadi Naqshbandi, head of Natural Resources and Watershed Management, was quoted by state run agency IRNA. “However, this year the number dropped to 1,436 hectares.”
The renowned oak tree forests in Kurdistan province and other predominantly Kurdish areas in western Iran have seen “considerable degradation” in recent decades, mainly due to wildfires caused by human error, security tensions between Iranian security forces and Kurdish opposition groups, as well as deliberate deforestation by locals. At least 83 hectares of forest were destroyed this year in wildfires, down from 108 hectares in 2019.
There are several possibilities for why there were fewer destructive fires this year. Restrictions on movement imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic meant fewer people were holidaying in the mountainous areas. And there is a growing awareness in the Kurdish areas about the need to protect the environment. This is despite pressure on Iran’s environmental movement.
Iranian authorities appear to intentionally hamper the work of conservationists and environment campaigners by frequently imprisoning them on trumped-up charges such as spying for the West or working with a hostile state. "Highly respected conservationists in Iran face torture, unfair trials on fabricated charges, and prolonged arbitrary detention,” Richard Pearshouse, head of crises and environment at Amnesty International, told National Geographic Magazine in November. “Iran’s revolutionary guards and courts have effectively obliterated the civic space required for legitimate wildlife conservation."
The fires have also caused several tragic deaths.
In June, three environmentalists were killed in a wildfire in the Hawraman region of Kermanshah province, across the border from the Kurdistan Region’s Halabja province.
Another four environmental activists died in 2018 in Mariwan city after trying to put out fires caused by Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) bombardments of suspected positions of Kurdish armed opposition groups hiding in the area.
Kurdistan province’s forests, predominantly oak, are part of the Zagros forest system in the west of the country that covers an area of about 6 million hectares, some 3.5 percent of Iran’s total area.
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