On the occasion of Arbor Day and Natural Resources Week, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution planted two fruit seedlings this morning (Sunday). Ayatollah Khamenei then congratulated the Iranian nation on the auspicious birthday of Imam Hussain (a.s), calling that noble existence the centre of love of the Iranian nation and all Muslim nations, both Shiite and non-Shiite.
He further called tree planting a wholly religious and revolutionary movement and added: Of course, maintaining and preserving trees is also an essential task that must be fulfilled.
The Leader of the Revolution considered the living plant as a comfort of the soul and protector of the human body and a God-given and comprehensive resource for human beings and emphasized: Therefore, the destruction of forests and the environment and vegetation is the destruction of national interests and destroying parts of the forest for buildings is definitely to the detriment of the nation, except in emergencies.
Rejecting the decorative and marginal view of the environment, Ayatollah Khamenei considered this issue as one of the most fundamental issues of the country and said: One of the serious tasks in protecting the environment is to protect the two great fortunes and vital reserves of the nations, namely "water" and "soil", and restraining from the lavish treatment, in which the authorities must heed the advice of experts.
Wildlife protection" was another issue the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution regarded negligence towards it to be a detriment of national interests: In Islam, hunting is allowed only if you need food; otherwise, it is illegal and foul. Even travel for the purpose of hunting is forbidden, so you should take the prevention of illegal hunting seriously and pay attention to wildlife conservation.
He further instructed the Environment Organization and the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture to prevent the conversion of agricultural lands. He added: This is to the detriment of the national interest, and the agricultural fields must be developed. Ayatollah Khamenei also stressed the need to create clean energy: The development of non-fossil or alternative energy, such as nuclear energy, which is increasingly used in the world and the countries of the region are moving towards, including wind and solar energy, must be taken seriously.
He called on the people to plant and maintain trees in the end. He said: the performance of essential tasks requires national support, and arboriculture is one of the tasks that all people can help with to spread the vegetation in the country by planting and preserving trees and preventing the disappearance of trees and gardens inside and outside cities.