“One impact that often receives less attention is that environmental destruction is not only an ecological or economic loss. Ecosystems such as mangrove forests provide cultural, social, and spiritual value, support traditional livelihoods, and shape local identities,” she told Truthout.
Tietjen believes environmental harm should not be measured only in financial and material terms, but also in the indelible effects on communities.
“The loss of biodiversity, cultural heritage, traditional livelihoods, and people’s place-based attachments can have significant impacts, regardless of whether the underlying driver is climate change or armed conflict,” she said.
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Still, details about these incidents and other events in which livestock farms, zoos, wildlife museums, and establishments affiliated with Iran’s Department of Environment were targeted have been sparse, mostly due to the limited operation of independent media and the longstanding constraints on international correspondents’ access to Iran.
Scholars have been trying to fill this knowledge gap by focusing on the broader impacts of the war on air quality in Iranian cities, temperature inversions, soil erosion, and habitat loss using open-source data.
