Segment 1

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Element

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Sepehr

SEPEHR SALIMI

Come in. I'm Sepehr Salimi. I've been writing a weblog for five years.

MARYAM

Be careful.

SEPEHR SALIMI

At first it was more about the animals, but as time passed I got more into the environment.

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Isfahan, Iran

SEPEHR SALIMI

Hi, have your brought your camera?

MARYAM

Yes.

SEPEHR SALIMI

All right then, let's do a visual report.

SEPEHR SALIMI

Maryam is one of my best friends. She has this positive energy about her and she keeps us all motivated.

SEPEHR SALIMI

We're actually in the river now, but there's no more river! It hasn't dried out for many years. It's because of the drought. It hardly rained at all this year. Well, I don't know. It's like a sign. This is related to climate change.

MARYAM

You should put these pictures in your weblog with title “I'm Standing in the Middle of the Zayandeh-rud.”

SEPEHR SALIMI

That’s a good idea.

SEPEHR SALIMI

I think it's a popular website. It was chosen as Iran's best environmental weblog two months ago.

SEPEHR SALIMI

Give me two of the blue fish.

SEPEHR SALIMI

I was born in Masjed-Soleymann, which is one of Iran's southern cities. I lived there until I was six and then we had to move to Isfahan, because of the war.

SEPEHR SALIMI

I have two friends for you.

SEPEHR SALIMI

We witnessed scenes that will stick in our minds forever. When you witness a war and all its violence, it subconsciously pushes you towards peace.

SEPEHR SALIMI

The other fish didn't like the new fish.

MARYAM

Don't they? They're naughty.

SEPEHR SALIMI

They're being harassed by the other fish.

MARYAM

It's probably because they're new.

SEPEHR SALIMI

For me animals are signs of God, so that's why as an animal lover I turned into an environmentalist. If we had a healthy environment, the animals would be safe.

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Gavkhoni Wet Land

SEPEHR SALIMI

Something exceptional happened here. That black mountain is the only mountain by the Gavkhuni swamp. An investor wanted to demolish part of the mountain for its stones, but luckily the local people protested against him. We published the news and it got national coverage in no time, so the investors were under pressure and finally they gave up and cancelled the project. And now Siah-kooh's intact for us and for future generations. It proves that if people are informed they can do just about anything.

SEPEHR SALIMI

When you see what you've written in your weblog printed in the papers, it's pretty cool. In Iran we didn't have an environmental news website, so we decided to make the first one.

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www.greennews.ir

SEPEHR SALIMI

The website has been running for just one week, but I want it to be so effective it grows by itself and I become just one in millions producing it. It's like a chain. You can't protect the environment in one country and not think about the situation in other countries. I mean, the more you know, the better decisions you'll make.

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