The only Iranian island in the Caspian Sea misses the presence of tourists

Revival of Ashuradeh based on natural attractions and tourism boom was emphasized by the president during his visit to Golestan in March last year, but after about 20 months of this trip, the only Iranian island in the Caspian Sea is still missing the presence of tourists. Ayatollah Raisi in March of this year In the past, during his trip to Golestan, he went to Ashuradeh Island and explicitly emphasized the implementation of the ecotourism plan on this island. However, now there are no problems to enter Ashuradeh as there were in previous years, and by dredging the boat mooring place, it is easy to visit this island. But apart from that, nothing else has happened to provide tourism infrastructure.

On the way to Ashurade Island, the traffic of trucks and road construction equipment is evident on the land in front of the island, and every few minutes a loud sound was heard, which the boat driver attributed to the closing sound of the truck moving the sediments of the Gorgan Bay dredging project.

Despite this terrible sound that was heard every few minutes, tens of thousands of wintering aquatic birds of the region did not react to this ear-splitting sound and as if they accepted that they have to spend this year’s cold season in noisy Mamni.

After a few minutes of boating, we arrived at Ashurade. A few colored leaves of the sour pomegranate bushes have come to welcome us, as if autumn has closed its journey early and is going to leave with the yellowing of most of the trees and bushes in the area.

Dredging of Gorgan Bay

There are many sour pomegranate bushes on Ashurade Island, and the parade of playful rabbits next to them is endless. The sky of Ashurade is full of flamingos and firebirds, and their dance in space has given this island a magical charm.

With all this visual appeal and pristine perspectives, Ashuradeh is still waiting for the decision of the institutions that each of them repeatedly claimed that the implementation of this project is unimpeded, but when it is implemented, another message is issued by the commission and various assemblies.

The representative of West Golestan Constituency told IRNA reporter about the implementation of the Ashuradeh tourism project: This project was designed from the beginning in two formats: the supporting part in Bandar Turkmen and the ecological part in Ashuradeh Island.

Abdul Jalal Iri added: There are about 138 hectares of tourism area on the coast of Bandar Turkmen in line with the Ashurade Island tourism plan, and 22 hectares of the tourism plan is located inside Ashurade Island, which can be implemented in the form of a tourism plan approved by the Supreme Council of Architecture and Urban Planning without any legal restrictions.

He said: The capacities of Golestan province on the coasts of Bandar Turkman, Bandar Gaz and Gamishan should be given more attention so that people can benefit from these capacities in the form of tourism piers.

Saying that a proposal regarding the formation of the tourism management organization of Ashurade Island has been approved by the president, Iri added: Based on this proposal, the organizational and management structure of Ashurade Island will be emphasized and the obstacles to this project will be removed.

He expressed his hope that the issues related to Ashuradeh Island and the dredging of Gorgan Bay, which had remained a mere slogan in recent years and had recently taken on an operational and executive aspect, would be completed with the formation of an organizational structure.

Ashurade Island

A few months ago, the governor of Golestan, referring to the president’s emphasis on the implementation of the Ashurade Island tourism development plan, said: “Some people and managers are hindering the implementation of this plan.”

Ali Mohammad Zanganeh stated: If these people continue to obstruct and stand against the will of the government and the explicit order of the president, I will tell the people their names so that they know who is obstructing the development of Golestan.

He said: The implementation of the Ashurade nature tourism project will undoubtedly accelerate the development of the province and those who are responsible in the province must work hard to complete this project.

About 10 months have passed since the president’s visit to Jezbara Ashuradeh and his explicit order, this project is still pending. There is not a week that the executive directors or parliamentarians do not talk about issuing the final license for this project, but it seems that they are only looking for speech therapy.

According to IRNA, the tourism plan in the only Iranian island in the Caspian Sea was one of the main demands of the people and officials of Golestan in recent decades, which was approved during the provincial visit of the government delegation to Golestan in 2013.

With the signing of the contract between the Golestan Governorate and the Environmental Protection Organization, the realization of the long-standing desire of the people of the province to benefit from its economic and livelihood benefits entered a new phase, and with the implementation of this plan in 2017, efforts and struggles to implement the government’s approval began. became.

After the opening ceremony of this project, a tug-of-war began between the environmentalists and the executive directors of Golestan. In the first step, with the follow-up of the environmental organizations, the area of ​​the tourism project in Ashurade was reduced from 380 hectares to 38 hectares.

In the new plan, it was decided that the entire tourism plan should be implemented in 38 hectares and only 22 hectares of it should be in the form of a concentrated tourism zone in the vicinity of the current residential and abandoned context of Ashurade, so as not to harm this habitat.
The plan for nature tourism in 22 hectares of Ashuradeh Island was approved by the National Wetlands Headquarters in April this year.

At the same time as the implementation operation by the Golestan Municipalities Cooperation Organization, environmentalists demanded to stop the implementation of this project by filing numerous complaints against the provincial and environmental managers of the country.

In this period of time, Golestan managers, with the aim of accelerating the process of transferring materials to the island, selected a support site in the coastal lands of Bandar Turkmen and built a 700-meter long and 10-meter wide road towards Gorgan Bay, in order to use the floating mooring in Gorgan Bay. To facilitate the transfer of materials to Ashuradeh, but the construction of this road was stopped by the order of the judicial authorities.

After issuing the order to stop the access road, environmentalists’ complaints continued until in June last year, the Deputy Attorney General of the country issued an order to completely stop the Ashurade tourism project.

The national tourism and nature tourism project of Ashurade Island includes the construction of a pier, access road, gazebo, restaurant and other infrastructure required for the presence of tourists.

Ashuradeh Island, which hosts all kinds of native and migratory birds all year round, was introduced and registered as one of the first biosphere reserves in the world in 1954.

Also, 40% of Iran’s caviar is obtained near this island. In 1837, Ashurade Island was occupied by the former Soviet forces despite Iran’s protest, and this country had a military outpost there until a few decades later.
Before the flood of 1372, this island had facilities such as a gendarmerie station, a rural cooperative company, a school, a shop, a mosque, and a mosque. There were more than a thousand inhabitants who were engaged in livestock farming, labor, crafts, and fishing, but with the flooding of the Volga River in Russia and the flood of this Iranian island was deserted.

Loneliness; The inevitable fate of the only Iranian island in the Caspian Sea from the distant past until now is that the end of this historical isolation requires the organization and formulation of an efficient development plan and the introduction of the attractions of this pristine region to domestic and foreign tourists along with efforts to attract investors and provide the necessary infrastructure.

Ashuradeh is located in the territorial area of ​​Bandar Turkmen city, located in the west of Golestan province.