“She was absolutely adored”
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 16 January 2020 03:02
- Written by editor
As Canadians have been coming to grips with the profound tragedy of the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in Iran, responses have run the gambit: devastation, disbelief, anger, blame.
Perhaps that is why Jimmy Thomson’s beautiful profile of Ghanimat Azhdari, a young PhD student at the University of Guelph who was born into a nomadic tribe in Iran, struck such a chord with readers.
It offered a way to see through the chaos and confusion of the tragedy to the very human lives and human loss on the other side.
The profile celebrates Azhdari’s contributions to conservation and, in particular, the importance of following the lead of Indigenous communities to protect the world’s ecologically rich places.
“If you care about nature and biodiversity, we are your biggest allies,” she once told a room of experts at UN Convention on Biological Diversity. “No one knows our territories better than we do, and no one has a bigger stake in protecting and securing our territories and the life within them than we do.”
This tribute to Azhdari, which quickly became the most-read piece in the history of The Narwhal, includes reflections from her PhD supervisor, Faisal Moola.
“She could slip between two worlds,” Moola said. He added that Azhdari “was very proud of her heritage as a tribal nomadic person” but that “she also had this ability to work very effectively in western science and policy contexts.”
Be sure to read the profile and check out our other features from this week, including a short documentary on the risks fracking-induced earthquakes pose to B.C.’s Peace Canyon and Site C dams.
Emma Gilchrist
Editor-in-chief
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By Amber BrackenAs the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en fight to stop the controversial $6.6 billion natural gas pipeline, the very landscape and cultural artifacts they aim to protect are being logged and bulldozed away. Read more and see the photos.
‘She was absolutely adored’: Iranian scientist spent her life fighting for Indigenous voices in conservation
By Jimmy ThomsonGhanimat Azhdari was born into a nomadic tribe in Iran and was a PhD student at Canada’s University of Guelph, where she was working with Indigenous communities in the boreal forest to map cultural sites. Last week, she died along with 175 others aboard Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, leaving friends and colleagues reeling over her loss. Read more.
‘What cost are human rights worth?’ UN calls for immediate RCMP withdrawal in Wet’suwet’en standoff
By Sarah CoxExperts say the world is watching to see if Canada heeds a call from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to immediately suspend work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline, the Trans Mountain pipeline and the Site C dam until ‘free, prior and informed consent’ is obtained from Indigenous peoples. Read more.
VIDEO: When fracking and hydro dams collide
By Ben Parfitt, Carol Linnitt and Jayce HawkinsInternal documents show that BC Hydro officials knew from the moment the Peace Canyon dam was built in the 1970s that it had “foundational problems,” and that if an earthquake damaged the structure’s vital drainage systems it could be a race to stabilize the dam before it failed. Watch now.
Peace Canyon dam at risk of failure from fracking-induced earthquakes, documents reveal
By Ben ParfittBC Hydro knew for years that earthquakes triggered by fracking operations posed risks to vulnerable Peace Canyon dam and ongoing challenges at the Site C dam, according to documents obtained under freedom of information legislation. Read more. The Narwhal in the world
Our Alberta reporter, Sharon J. Riley, was recently interviewed by Day 6, CBC's national current affairs show, about her reporting on the proposed (and massive!) Frontier oilsands mine. Missed it on the radio waves? Listen here.
Thanks to our friends at The Walrus for featuring Jimmy Thomson's posthumous profile of Indigenous conservation leader Ghanimat Azhdari, who was onboard Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752.
We're honoured to have the ICCA Consortium, an organization Ghanimat Azhdari volunteered for, share our profile about her important work.
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