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