The job of putting out forest fires in Iran’s Kurdish provinces of Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and Western Azerbaijan has fallen on the shoulders of non-governmental organizations. These volunteers have taken on the dangerous job of protecting the forests, risking their lives. Last year Khandani, Yasin Karimi, and Bilal Amini lost their lives fighting fires in the Marakhel region of Paveh, Kermanshah province.
On the first anniversary of their deaths, environmental activists from across Kurdish areas, including Mariwan, Javanrud, Sanandaj, and Kermanshah, gathered at the Nowsud town cemetery in western Kermanshah, laying flowers on the graves.
“A year after the death of three selfless children of this area, people’s awareness and sense of responsibility toward nature has increased,” Ashna Hasanzadeh, a member of the environmental organization Zhiway Pawa, told Rudaw English at the ceremony.
“The concerned authorities such as natural resources and those related to nature in Paveh region do not have a strong will to control the fires, therefore not only in Paveh, but in many areas of Kurdistan and Iran, the task of protecting the nature has fallen on those non-governmental nature organizations,” she added.
Strung up in the cemetery was a large banner with pictures of others who have lost their lives protecting nature. In 2018, two members of the Green Mountain Organization died fighting wildfires in Mariwan and four members of the same organization died this year in a traffic accident.
The forests that are going up in flames are centuries old.
“The trees that are burning in this area are mostly oak trees, but some are pistachio, berries, and other wild fruits, which harm the nature of this area a lot,” Sharam Waisi, an environmental activist from Nowsud, told Rudaw English. “Some of the trees are up to 500 years old.”
“There is no exact data on the amount of trees burnt in Paveh and Nowsud, but the way we have seen it, these fires have hurt the nature of this area a lot. For example, in the past two weeks in Nowsud, in southern Nowsud valley alone, nearly 400 dunams of forests have burnt,” Waisi added.
As the sun set, Saadat Shazi’s cries over the grave of her son Mukhtar Khandani brought tears to the eyes of those around her.
“My son spent his whole youth saving the nature of this place, and then sacrificed his life for the forests. He would never hesitate to go and save the nature of those forests,” she told Rudaw English as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her white scarf.
“I ask all authorities and people, out of respect to those who gave their lives protecting nature, to respect their environment and follow in my son’s footsteps to save it. I have not been able to eat or sleep properly for a year now. My son’s death at this age has really struck me,” she said.
Jamal Qadri is a leadership member of the Green Mountain organization. He said they have recorded 124 forest fires in Mariwan and Sawlawa alone in western Kurdistan province between March 28 and June 25, this year.
Local authorities like the natural resources department in Mariwan have a workforce of just six people who cannot battle all the fires, so the burden falls to Chya organization. But rather than increasing capacity to put out the fires, Qadri would like to see improved efforts to prevent the blazes. “We want to prevent fires from starting in the first place rather than increasing the ability to control the fires,” he said.
“Apart from the fires, invading the forests, which are public property, is an even bigger problem for Kurdistan’s nature,” Qadri added, referring to people trying to assert private ownership over public property. “And the authorities are negligent about this matter.”
