Forest Fires: Cultural Poverty or Officials’ Incompetence?

Environmental activists complain about the lack of firefighting equipment in Iran’s forests and rangelands. The Department of Environment says 90 percent of recent fires resulted from human error and that investing in purchasing equipment is not cost-effective.

Colonel Jamshid Mohabbat Khani, commander of Iran’s environmental protection forces, says when people enter natural areas, they should refrain from building fires for cooking and heating, should not smoke, and should not leave glass containers in nature as they act like magnifying glasses.

On Tuesday, the 10th of Tir (June 30), in a press conference he said: “The cause of 90 percent of recent fires is human error and 10 percent is intentional.”

Recent successive wildfires in Iran’s forests and rangelands and the deaths of four young environmental activists in the flames due to lack of equipment to control fires have drawn widespread criticism of Iran’s Department of Environment.

The commander of environmental protection forces said in the Tuesday press conference: “In the fires, military and armed forces equipment has been used. General correspondences have taken place regarding the use of armed forces equipment in the firefighting process in the country, therefore their facilities are being used, but sometimes there are limitations in this area, for example helicopter flights have limitations, meaning if the weather is not favorable, flying is not possible, but in the armed forces’ fires, no facilities have been spared.”

Wildfires in Iran’s forests and rangelands have tripled compared to last year. In the first three months of this year, 1,654 hectares of Iran’s forests have been consumed by fire. A report from the Global Forest Watch organization, based on maps from various NASA satellites, shows that Khuzestan, Fars, Bushehr, Ilam, and Isfahan provinces have had the most cases of wildfires. Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Hormozgan, Razavi Khorasan, Tehran, and Kermanshah are in subsequent ranks.

In Kermanshah province, 100 hectares of the Khaiz protected area in the Zagros forests were destroyed by fire in one week. Three environmental activists who had entered the area to help rescue forces did not return alive.

Jalil Balai, director general of crisis management at Kermanshah governorate, told the newspaper “Ebtekar” that sending a helicopter to rescue these environmental activists was not possible due to “temporal and weather conditions.”

In response to reports that the death of the three environmental activists was caused by a mine explosion, he emphasized that a change in wind direction caused them to become trapped in the flames of fire. Part of the border province of Kermanshah was mined during the Iran-Iraq War. Comments by Faridan Yavari, director general of the environment in Kermanshah province, also reinforced the possibility of mine explosions in the wildfires of the Zagros forests.

Yavari said on Tuesday, the 10th of Tir, to the newspaper “Iran Development”: “The difficult terrain and mining in this border area necessitate that the fire be extinguished with the help of aircraft or water-spraying helicopters, but apparently such a matter has no place in our environmental protection.”

These comments from the director general of the environment in Kermanshah province contradict the statements of the commander of environmental protection forces regarding the possibility of deploying military helicopters to control fires. Earlier, Mehrdad Stoude, deputy of development at Bushehr governorate, also complained about the lack of firefighting equipment in difficult-to-access areas and called the absence of helicopters and water-spraying helicopters “a national problem.”

The head of Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, in response to these criticisms, says investment in this area is not cost-effective and developed countries that have adequate facilities also experience wildfires.

Isa Kalantari said on Tuesday, the 10th of Tir, to the newspaper Ettelaat: “It is not cost-effective to spend billions of dollars on firefighting equipment for fires of less than 10,000 hectares annually. On the other hand, in the mountainous areas of Alborz and Zagros, fires cannot be extinguished with helicopters and aircraft because operationally they have limited effectiveness, while human forces can be sent to those areas.”

Developed countries use firefighting equipment for difficult-to-access areas, and the greater the probability of fire, the greater the investment. For example, widespread wildfires in Australia led to changes in the environmental policies of that country’s government. In Germany, too, following low rainfall in the past two years and increased probability of forest fires, new plans are under review, including a plan for more effective use of small lakes’ water to control fires.

Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, which was established in accordance with Article 50 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has as its primary duty “the protection of Iran’s environment and natural ecosystems and the remediation of past harmful effects on Iran’s environment.”

The head of this organization said on Tuesday, the 10th of Tir, to the newspaper Ettelaat: “Our helicopters are very worn out, and in using them for firefighting, I am more concerned about the safety of flight personnel than forest fires.”

Isa Kalantari emphasized that it would be better if the hard expenses for firefighting natural resources were spent on education to increase public awareness in the field of forest protection. He said: “We should teach people how to act when they come to help control fires, not become emotional and burn themselves.”

Source: DW