Sepideh Faramarzi: Green Desert

In occasione della giornata mondiale delle zone umide, il 2 febbraio scorso
Sepideh Faramarzi ha disegnato questo splendido dipinto "Green Desert" 

per denunciare la salvaguardia di questi ambienti così importanti per la vita della terra e di tutti gli esseri e anche gli esseri umani .
Ora alcune di queste zone umide sono in cattive condizioni e vengono distrutte.
Una di queste è Anzali Wetland, nel paese di Sepideh Faramarzi; una zona umida nella regione settentrionale dell'Iran con una lunga storia, a zona umida che è stata l'habitat di molte specie di animali e piante acquatiche, migratorie e uccelli autoctoni e così via. 

Anzali Wetland è uno degli ecosistemi più preziosi al mondo, ed è 
è stato registrato nella Convenzione internazionale di Ramsar dal 1975. 

Questa zona umida era una volta una delle principali centri di attrazione turistica, e il sostentamento di un gran numero di residenti della le zone umide, compresi pescatori e agricoltori, ecc., dipendevano dalla sua vita.

 Non è in buone condizioni questi giorni.

Anzali Wetland con più di 100 specie di uccelli, 52 specie di pesci, centinaia di specie vegetali
e il suo ecosistema unico, in un'area di 20.000 ettari situata sul Mar Caspio; purtroppo
nel 1993 è stata inclusa nell'elenco delle zone umide in via di estinzione (Montreux Record) e gli sforzi per rimuovere il nome di questa zona umida da questo elenco sono ancora in corso.

Green Desert

It is obvious that the life of all creatures on the earth depends on water. In recent years, the global

warming, drought and their environmental consequences have become known to the people of the

world. Apparently, no other place in the world is safe from these difficult and challenging

conditions.

Wetlands are an important part of these environmental challenges. Wetlands that are thousands of

years old and from which civilizations, human societies, different cultures and occupations have

emerged. Wetlands on which the life of the earth and all beings and even human beings depend.

Now some of these wetlands are in poor condition and are being destroyed.

One of them is Anzali Wetland; a wetland in the northern region of Iran with a long history, a

wetland that has been the habitat of many species of aquatic animals and plants, migratory and

native birds and so on. Anzali Wetland is one of the most valuable ecosystems in the world, which

has been registered in Ramsar International Convention since 1975. This wetland was once one of

the main centers for attracting tourists, and the livelihood of a large number of residents of the

wetland, including fishermen and farmers, etc., depended on its life; It is not in a good condition

these days.

Anzali Wetland with more than 100 species of birds, 52 species of fish, hundreds of plant species

and its unique ecosystem, in an area of 20,000 hectares located on the Caspian Sea; unfortunately

in 1993, it was included in the list of wetlands endangered (Montreux Record) and efforts to

remove the name of this wetland from this list are still ongoing.

In this painting, I have tried to depict the real and current situation of the wetland. This wetland

was once the habitat of many migratory and native birds, including swans, geese, ducks, seagulls

and so on. The lotus flowers shone like diamonds in the wetland with their delicate pink petals.

And the place where these flowers grew was a safe place for terns to lay eggs and hatch, but now

this safe house has been destroyed and the terns have become nestless. There is no more water in

the wetland for migratory and native birds from all over Iran and neighboring countries to come

to it.

The name of my painting is Green Desert. Perhaps the question is why the green desert? The green

desert shows the current situation of Anzali wetland. This wetland, which was once a safe place

for swans and buffaloes, has now dried up much of it and turned into a desert. The safe place for

fish, aquatic animals and plants these days has become a desert and dry area but with a green

appearance. Hence, I named my artwork Green Desert. A desert that looks green and beautiful but

has news of a great catastrophe. The green color that dominates in my paintings is eye-catching

and beautiful, and the lotus flowers with pink colors have enlivened this green color. But all its

creatures (swans, boars, cows, ewes, pelicans, etc.) are surrounded by the desert in different parts

of my painting, they have no escape or they have lost their lives; and the boats that are surrounded

by the desert and they have no way to move.

My painting, while showing a seemingly beautiful landscape, in fact, represents a great

catastrophe in Anzali wetland. A wetland whose depth has been drastically reduced and many parts

of it have dried up and turned into a desert. The garbage dumped by humans is more visible than

the lotus flowers of the wetland. And the fire that engulfed the wetland many times and destroyed

a large area of the wetland reeds during the fire. All this is not just a catastrophe, but the death of

the earth.

The drying up of wetlands (for direct or indirect human reasons) does not affect just one country

or region; different species of aquatic organisms, animals, plants, birds, etc. are damaged and affect

the entire life cycle on earth and the ecological balance is lost.

It is clear that the lives of all of humans depend on the earth and life on it. An important issue that

has not been given enough attention. As an artist and painter, I see it as my duty to be able to

spread awareness with my art and inform about the current state of Anzali Wetland. In the hope

that this issue will be addressed so that perhaps this great environmental catastrophe can be

prevented and life can return to the Anzali wetland.

Author and Painter: Sepideh Faramarzi