Lake and Pearl Palace Garden, an opportunity to create an in-town bird watching site
In fact, bird watching is one of the sub-branches of ecotourism and on the other hand it is closely related to the environment. We do not have to go to pristine and distant nature to watch birds. It is also easily accessible in the city or village parks where we live.
We need to know that birds are always and everywhere. Sometimes we may see eagles or dolly on the roof of our house in the center of Tehran, which may not be easy to see in the pristine nature and national park. Bird tourism is very popular in many countries of the world and statistics show that bird watching is the most popular branch of ecotourism in the world. More than 5 million professional birdwatchers are now identified in Europe. Unfortunately, bird watching in our country is not yet known among the people and it has only been able to attract a certain group of tourists with special interests.
Birdwatching does not require complex equipment. Handbooks, notebooks (or mobile apps today) and binoculars are the most important tools needed. Of course, we need to know that bird watching and bird photography are two separate issues and do not necessarily need a camera for bird watching. However, a camera can help us capture observations. Spotting Scopes are also a requirement for professional bird watching and identification.
With this introduction we go to a unique situation of urban bird watching. Undoubtedly, the Pearl Palace, in addition to its special architectural values, bears the signature of Frank Lloyd Wright, the renowned American architect and creator of the organic architectural style; It has other hidden values that have received little attention. The Pearl Lake Lake and Garden has become a safe haven for permanent and seasonal bird habitat due to its characteristics such as the appropriate size of the lake and garden which is about thirty hectares and the low population density of Mehrshahr and the silence it has had during these years. During the migration season, this place is used by groups of these migratory birds.
On the other hand, in the cities of Tehran and Karaj, the only garden and lake is the Pearl Palace, which has this unique feature. Therefore, the best use for this space is to create a bird watching base. By creating the Mehrshahr Pearl Bird Club in the historical space of the Pearl Palace, which has been registered in the list of national monuments, it doubles the value and tourism weight of this building and puts together historical, natural and environmental prestige, which is the least building and area. History has this potential. Creating a bird watching site in this area, which the author calls the Mehrshahr Pearl Bird Watching Club from now on, can have many benefits, which I will briefly discuss.
– Makes this place the only in-town bird watching site with permanent and seasonal birds, which has the smallest inner-city bird watching club in the country.
– In the first step, it will lead to increasing public awareness about the importance of the presence and presence of birds in urban areas and their protection, especially endangered species, and in the next step by educating different age groups about the importance of birds and their environmental effects. The phenomenon leads to the macro level.
– Helps to empower local communities and provide a platform for sustainable employment in the field of tourism and sustainable development in the field of cultural tourism and nature tourism.
– Creating a cultural, educational and recreational place to spend leisure time for all age groups due to the presence of the Pearl Palace next to this unique space.
Bringing together those interested in bird watching and discussing and exchanging views on the development of this field and planning and organizing the professional presence of the members of the bird watching club.
– Cooperation with cultural and nature tours to hold specialized domestic and foreign combined tours, both to be a building with global scale and prestige, and to benefit from a small ecology created by birds.
These days, bad news is heard from Karaj Municipality, which unfortunately, without expert work, is defining a use for the lake and garden. I read in the news today that the municipality intends to set up a boat ride in the lake and in the garden of the bike path. These uses not only contradict the dignity of this national monument, which has the potential to be inscribed on the World Heritage List (since last year Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic architectural heritage was inscribed on the World Heritage List), but also due to the lake and cycling track in Chittagong. Has no economy; Because historical buildings and spaces are not like parks that can accommodate people in the long run, and most importantly, it closes the case of the World Register of Pearls.
I wish that the Municipality of Karaj and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Alborz appreciate the value of this unique gem and that uses with its dignity and potential be allocated to this space, which is historical, cultural and tourism. Due to the capacity of the Birdwatching Club, the establishment of a cycling and boating club in the Pearl Factory is an awkward patch that has lowered the building and the influx of visitors to use the boat and bicycle for more than the bearing capacity of this complex, and in the short term and It also causes irreparable damage in the long run.
.