TEHRAN – The first sports competition for rangers will be held by the Department of Environment in the sixth Iranian calendar month of Shahrivar (starting August 23), IRNA reported.

The contestants will participate in triathlon, darts, shooting, futsal, and 20 kilometers race walk competitions.

Thanks to their continuous presence and activities in different natural areas of mountains, plains, forests, seas, and wetlands, rangers enjoy good physical fitness, and in carrying out their missions to protect the environment, they naturally do various sports.

So, in addition to creating a competitive environment for increasing physical abilities, holding competitions can also lead to an increase in the motivation and personal growth of rangers.

If the event is held successfully, the next edition of the competitions will be held with the presence of regional countries.

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.

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.

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.

If the military, judiciary, veterinary, and people come to work, the endangered species can survive extinction, he further 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.

President Ebrahim Raisi has 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.

On November 17, 2015, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, announced the general policies on the environment, emphasizing the need for comprehensive, harmonious, and organized management of vital resources based on ecological capability and sustainability, particularly by increasing capacities and appropriate legal and structural capabilities accompanied by public participation.

The policies call for establishing a cohesive and national system on the issue of the environment.

Improving environmental conditions with the purpose of helping society enjoy a healthy environment, administering justice and observing intra-generational rights, preventing and prohibiting the circulation of all kinds of unlawful pollutants, recording crimes related to the environment, administering efficient and preventive punishment of polluters and destroyers of the environment and forcing them to compensate for their actions, were also among the policies.

MG