The first international sports competition for rangers will be held in the current Iranian calendar year which started on March 20, an official with the Department of Environment has said.

According to The Iran Project,Considering the irreplaceable role and position of rangers in the protection of the environment and the need to keep their physical strength and preparation, necessary measures are being taken to hold the first sports competition for rangers this year, Nourollah Moradi said.

In this regard, the drafting of regulations, and the formation of an organizing council are underway, and the international event will be held in six fields of sport with the participation of rangers from several countries, he explained.

The first sports competition for domestic rangers was held by the Department of Environment in August 2023, IRNA reported.

The contestants participated in triathlon, darts, shooting, futsal, and 20-kilometer race walk competitions.

Thanks to their continuous presence and activities in different natural areas of mountains, plains, forests, seas, and wetlands, rangers enjoy good physical fitness, and in carrying out their missions to protect the environment, they naturally do various sports.

So, in addition to creating a competitive environment for increasing physical abilities, holding competitions can also lead to an increase in the motivation and personal growth of rangers.

In order to protect the country's environment well, the number of rangers should increase by 10 times, Hassan Akbari, deputy head of natural environment and biodiversity of the Department of Environment, said in September 2022.

"In the country, there is currently one ranger for every 30,000 to 40,000 hectares of protected areas, while usually there should be one ranger for 1,000 to 3,000 hectares, so to preserve our biological assets, we must take steps to recruit more rangers.

Over 100 species of vertebrates in the country are in danger of extinction, and about 160 species are protected."

Some species such as the Asiatic cheetah, great bustard, and fallow deer are at risk of extinction and are in a more critical situation, some species such as the Persian zebra have limited habitats, and some such as the bustards are damaged by trafficking, on the other hand, the habitats of some animals that have a large territory such as leopard are occupied, each of them faces specific problems and each of them needs its own methods, and packages for protection, Akbari highlighted.

He went on to note that illegal hunting takes place in the protected areas, especially the prohibited hunting areas, to a small extent and to a significant extent in the free areas, where there are not enough forces to protect them.

“We must move towards participatory conservation, livelihood change, or models in the world that provide a part of nature to the private sector for conservation,” he suggested.

President Ebrahim Raisi has highlighted the importance of environmental protection, emphasizing that the preservation of the environment is prior to every development.

Environmental protection will lead to power, security, investment, and production growth in the country, he said.

Both people and NGOs have an effective role to play in the protection of the environment, and they should be given a chance to play their role, he added.