Cyrus the Great (555-530 BC), the eulogized triumphant conqueror and the founder of Achaemenid Empire, was a towering liberating figure in the history of mankind. His famous Cylinder is the first charter of human right of nations in the world.
Moreover, it is assumed that he made the first Iranian garden in his capital, Pasargad, where he planted regular rows of trees in four-fold or quadripartite arrangement. Little is known about what he planted and how, but evidence suggests that a variety of fruit trees would have populated the four quadrants of the garden. Nine Persian style gardens have been inscribed in the UNESCO world heritage list. Cyrus’s Pasargad garden, from which the word “paradise” is derived, was his palace and resting place or mausoleum.
Now, after almost 25 centuries, an initiative has been launched, inspired by Cyrus’s great deeds, to create a combination of Human Rights and Persian Garden alongside the tomb of Cyrus the Great.
helping regional tourism
To develop the plan, Arash Nouraghaee, head of Iran federation of Tourist Guides Association (IFTGA) and a tourism specialist, undertook a series of in-depth regional studies, and in a recent visit to the historical city of Sa’adat Shahr, Fars province, shared his findings with local tourism-environment experts, and the governor.
“Implementing an enormous and delightful Iranian-style garden called ‘Human Rights’ in Pasargad or Sa’adat Shahr district, will help regional tourism to thrive and subsequently protect the environment”, asserted Nouraghaee.
The fertile lands of the Fars plains are ready for cultivation in which to grow the gardens, he said, adding “it is a familiar custom among the local communities to plant a tree in the name of every newborn baby, so that each individual owns a tree as old as them.”
Respecting the life-style of the local society, the plan could help to promote the Persian Garden internationally in the most ideal manner, it also confirms that Iranian people, from the distant past to the present, revered and admired Human Rights.
Agricultural engineers and other related experts will oversee the process. Considering the water crisis, modern conservation methods of watering such as drip irrigation will be used.
An awareness campaign and a website will soon be launched. As part of the campaign, tourists and aficionados will be invited to buy trees and flowers, which will be planted in their name in the Human Rights garden. Each tree will have a certificate in the owner’s name. The income from the plants will be spent on protecting, growing, and irrigating the garden.
Human Rights and the Environment
Following the Leader’s recent speech concerning environmental issues, “fostering this plan could give birth to a many of positive developments in environmental protection,” Nouraghaee said.
The UN High Commissioner for human rights announced that “all human beings depend on the environment in which we live. A safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation. Without a healthy environment, we are unable to fulfill our aspirations or even live at a level commensurate with minimum standards of human dignity. At the same time, protecting human rights helps to protect the environment. When people are able to learn about, and participate in, the decisions that affect them, they can help to ensure that those decisions respect their need for a sustainable environment.”
To this end Nouraghaee added that “related plans to evolve the idea of garden in the near future, will further our human rights goals as they related to the environment, and will propagate relating projects including organic farming, restaurants, eco-lodges, and environmental awareness raising, where visitors can benefit from organic agricultural products and safe, nutritious food.”
Throughout their history, Persian people have preserved Human Rights. Visitors can reap the fruits of Human Rights, serve sustainable food in organic restaurants and for each tourist to act as ambassador for Iranian style Human Rights.
