Bill to Support Park Rangers in Parliament

Concurrent with the World Ranger Day (observed on July 31), the bill to support park rangers drafted by the Department of Environment in July 2016 has been tabled in the Majlis.  

Massoumeh Ebtekar, vice president and director of DOE, has urged the parliament's legal and judicial, agriculture, and national security commissions, to give high priority to the bill, ISNA reported.

Following the murders of three park rangers in two separate incidents in one week in June 2016, environment officials and activists have endeavored to provide better legal protection to park rangers.

Based on the bill, park rangers are covered by articles 12 to 15 of the law concerning the use of weapons in emergencies by armed forces.

This means that if the government concludes that a park ranger involved in an accident has abided by the law, it will bear the financial costs incurred by the ranger, ranging from legal fees to possible compensation demanded by the family of a poacher because of bodily harm or loss of life.

In case of an assault on park rangers, the legal case must be given priority and processed out of turn.

The bill also states that the Expediency Council’s directive about government-sponsored insurance schemes such as liability or medical insurance must apply to park rangers and their families.

Experts believe the bulk of challenges faced by rangers when dealing with poachers are rooted in their weak training, hence DOE has revamped its education and training system for 1,500 park rangers.

"Facilities were provided to 19 senior park rangers to be trained in foreign countries," Mohammad Mojabi, deputy head of DOE, said.

The officials said that in this system, rangers will enroll in a course every four years and receive a certificate upon completing the training, along with job promotion and pay raise.

To provide the latest equipment, including fire extinguishing tools and motorcycles, the DOE, Ministry of Defense and Kosar Credit Institute signed an agreement to allocate 400 billion rials ($10 million) for the purpose.    

 "The induction of 4,800 more park rangers is also among measures taken to widen protection and ease the rangers' hard work," Mojabi said. The bill was initially devised for park rangers that patrol no-hunting zones, animal sanctuaries and other DOE-managed protected areas, but since forest rangers protecting woodlands from timber smugglers face the same issues, the bill also included this group.

World Ranger Day commemorates the many rangers killed or injured in the line of duty. It is also the day to celebrate rangers and their contribution to protect the world's natural and cultural treasures.