TEHRAN – The eighth day of Aban – the 8th Iranian calendar month, which falls on October 29, has been approved to be registered on the national calendar as the ‘Ranger Day’, Nourollah Moradi, an official with the Department of Environment, has said.

Rangers and environmental defenders are at the forefront of protecting wildlife, natural resources, and ecosystems, sometimes sacrificing their lives to preserve nature.

The day aims to honor these officials’ key role in safeguarding natural resources and biodiversity.

"In the country, there is currently one ranger for every 30,000 to 40,000 hectares of protected areas, while usually there should be one ranger for 1,000 to 3,000 hectares, so to preserve our biological assets, we must take steps to recruit more rangers.

Over 100 species of vertebrates in the country are in danger of extinction, and about 160 species are protected."

In order to protect the country's environment well, the number of rangers should increase by 10 times, Hassan Akbari, deputy head of natural environment and biodiversity of the Department of Environment, said in September 2022.

Some species such as the Asiatic cheetah, great bustard, and fallow deer are at risk of extinction and are in a more critical situation, some species such as the Persian zebra have limited habitats, and some such as the bustards are damaged by trafficking, on the other hand, the habitats of some animals that have a large territory such as leopard are occupied, each of them faces specific problems and each of them needs its own methods, and packages for protection, Akbari highlighted.

He went on to note that illegal hunting takes place in the protected areas, especially the prohibited hunting areas, to a small extent and to a significant extent in the free areas, where there are not enough forces to protect them.

“We must move towards participatory conservation, livelihood change, or models in the world that provide a part of nature to the private sector for conservation,” he suggested.

Late president Ebrahim Raisi highlighted the importance of environmental protection, emphasizing that the preservation of the environment is prior to every development.

Environmental protection will lead to power, security, investment, and production growth in the country, he said.

Both people and NGOs have an effective role to play in the protection of the environment, and they should be given a chance to play their role, he added.

World Ranger Day

World Ranger Day is observed annually on the 31st of July and is celebrated by the International Ranger Federation’s (IRF’s) member Associations worldwide.

World Ranger Day both commemorates Rangers killed or injured in the line of duty and celebrates the critical work Rangers do to protect the world’s natural and cultural treasures.
The first World Ranger Day was observed in 2007 on the 15th anniversary of the founding of the IRF.

MT/MG