Park rangers are set to receive a hardship allowance, based on the proposed budget bill for the next fiscal year (starts March 20). “Special attention has been given in the bill to the work that rangers do,” said Hamid Pourmohammadi, a deputy at the Management and Planning Organization, IRNA reported. Reports in the local media suggest that the Department of Environment is set to receive between 40% and 44% more funding next year. Earlier, it had been reported that the department’s budget would be cut as the government grapples with high spending and declining revenues due to the plunge in international oil prices. The DOE employs 2,850 rangers, which is insufficient to monitor and patrol Iran’s protected areas. According to Mohammad Darvish, deputy for education and public participation at the department, every ranger is compelled to do the job of three people. Aside from the work pressures, rangers have a meager income, which is unjustified given the fact that they frequently come across armed poachers who rarely shy from using their weapons to kill the park wardens.
