A princess betrothed to Nebuchadnezzar travels from her palace in Hamadan to Babylon. True story, and it’s angling to be the beginning of my historical novel. Amytis’ journey, 2500 years ago, from what is modern, northern Iran to what is modern, central Iraq passed through a changing landscape with a dizzying variety of flora and fauna. Learning 
about the region of her childhood — Hamadan/Ecbatana — I am struck by its beauty, sophisticated and diverse ecosystems, by its fragile wild nature. Like the political landscape, the natural has changed somewhat over the centuries. But it is still remarkably diverse and strikingly beautiful.
According to one recent scientific article, a protected area in Hamedan province of about 11000 ha includes a wide variety of plants and animals: “Some of the mine plant species are nettle tree, sour cherry, mountain almond, astragal, thorn, barberry, thistle, ziziphora,
devil milk, carnation, sheep fescus, milfoil, dog rose, thyme, acanthofyllum and different species of gramineae. The main animal species of the region included wild goat, Armenian sheep, wolf, striped hyena, common fox, golden jackal, Indian crested porcupine, stone marten, golden eagle, kestrel, sparrow hawk, hobby, black vulture, chukar parttidge, see-partridge, sandgrouse, stock dove, red-billed chough, bunting, rock nuthatch, Montpellier snake, versicolored wood snake, agama, scorpion and tarantula” (YAVARI AND SHAHGOLZARI / J. Agric. Soc. Sci., Vol. 7, No. 3, 2011pages 103-104). Another article concerns only moss, reporting 32 moss varieties in Hamedan province alone. (And these are just a couple of items that pop up in a Google search of Hamedan flora.)
I learn about this with both respect for the Iranians who have chosen to protect and preserve wild spaces such as the Khan-Gormaz described above and with dread that the politics in which the non-human natural world has no say will nevertheless lead to its destruction. Such are losses with no political boundaries. Oh, for peace.
