We, as a number of community associations and cultural and environmental activists, express our grave concern and find it our duty to call for trial and punishment of those uncaring people, as well as the authorities as the direct culprit of the large-scale destruction of trees and jungle.
The Marivan People’s Institutions /NGO /and a number of environmental activists in the city released a joint statement and condemned the “silence of the administration and responsible organizations towards the extermination of the Marivan forests” and warned about the continuation of this passive stance.
The statement was issued and signed by Kurdistan-Marivan Teachers’ Association, the Marivan Literary and Cultural Association, the Ronan Cultural Center, the Art-Cultural Association Vajin, the Union of Marivan clergymen and the Horaman-Yamama, the Jian-Association, and the Jin Health center.
The statement: Marivan: The paradise for those against nature.
Sadly, we are still witnessing the destruction of Marivan’s jungles on a large scale as before. This unforgivable crime is being carried out as the state is calm and silent about it, so frequently that it has become a norm for people as well as the authorities. Undoubtedly, the continuation of this trend will in the long term lead to the destruction of all forests and turn them into desert and dust fields. We are aware that the bulldozers are actively destroying the forests around the city, such as the “Hill of Bazergan”. Even though this large scale of destruction is visible from the city’s court windows, yet no complaint was raised! As a result, it is reasonable to assume that the demolition of the forest has become an accepted norm. When one witnesses the large scale of jungle destruction under observation of the public, there is little to no hope in preserving the forests that are out of public’s sight. The innocent future generation will pay the consequences of people’s silence towards criminal’s greed.
For common people, as well as environmentalists it is a legitimate question: what exactly is the mission of Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and in return for what role are they being paid? Natural resource mafia is aware that they are not monitored, nor the government is warning them even though large parts of the city’s greenery is destroyed. Naturally, they are becoming bolder each day, to a degree that journalists and activists are threatened to remain quiet. As a consequence, with the absence of reaction from authority, people and activists, the forests of the region are in crisis… The pasture is becoming private properties the and officials refuse to accept any responsibility.
Now, we as community associations and cultural and environmental activists express our deepest concerns and take it upon ourselves to call for retribution of careless people and reckless authorities as they are no less than partners in crime against nature of the region. They have shut their eyes on the plunder of natural resources, hence they are directly or indirectly a culprit in the misdeed. In addition, we announce in a loud and clear voice that we will never allow opportunists to ruin our future and subsequent generations future. Base on this worrying fact, we express out impatience and strongly warn against the continuation of the situation. We emphasize as our responsibility that if the situation continues, we will use every legal means to stop such an obvious crime. The natural resource mafia, landowners and a number of authorities have chosen a path that destroys the resources for the future generations of the country. We are determined to take practical and legal steps against these misdeeds.
In short, Zagros forests are located in the dry belts of earth and with the global warming creeping in, it is extremely difficult to revive the greenery destroyed in recent years. Our best and the only option is to preserve the forests that we have.