Mohammad Darvish (born January 24, 1966, Tehran) is a prominent Iranian environmental expert, rangeland and watershed management specialist, researcher, desert scholar, and one of the country’s leading environmental activists. He is widely recognized as a key voice for nature in Iran, often referred to as the “voice of Iran’s environment” and a pioneer of modern environmentalism in the country.

 Life and Education

Mohammad Darvish spent his childhood and youth in various cities across Iran, including Tehran, Borujerd, Sardasht, Isfahan, Abadan, Khorramshahr, and Najafabad. After completing his experimental sciences high school diploma, he performed military service from 1985 to 1987. He was then accepted into the Rangeland and Watershed Management program at the University of Tehran. In February 1990, due to his outstanding academic performance and success in the entrance interview, he was recruited as a faculty member at the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, where he served as head of the Socio-Economic Group in the Desert Research Section.

He earned his master’s degree in Environmental Management from the Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University in Tehran. His master’s thesis, titled “Managerial Feasibility Study of Using FAO and UNEP Methods for Preparing an Iranian Desertification Map,” was selected as the top research of 1999 by the then Ministry of Construction Jihad.

 Professional Roles

– Director General of Public Participation and Education Office, Department of Environment (until March 2018)

– Director General of Public Participation Office, Department of Environment (until December 2015)

– Head of Environmental Policy Section, Center for Strategic Studies of the Presidency (until September 2017)

– Head of Socio-Economic Research Group on Desertification Factors, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands (until December 2013)

– Chair of the UNESCO Chair on Social Health – Environmental Committee (since September 2019)

– Member of the Committee for Review, Revision, and Formulation of Environmental Laws and Regulations

– Responsible for preparing the macro-research program of desert research in the 20-year vision

– Representative of the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands in the Office of Environmental Research and Sustainable Agricultural Development (until December 2013)

– Member of the National Committee for Support of Environmental Guards and Protectors

– Member of the Comprehensive Environmental Schools Formation Task Force

– Secretary of the Green Path – Clean Coast Program

– Executive Secretary of the National Environment Award

– Secretary of the Environment in the Teachings of Imam Reza Festival

– Secretary of the Environment Book of the Year Festival

– Member of the Clean Transportation Council, Ministry of Interior (since April 2018)

– Member of the National Headquarters for Citizenship Education and Culture and National Clean Transportation Campaign of Municipalities (since July 2019)

 Views and Activities

Mohammad Darvish is a leading advocate of ecological economics in Iran. He views water as a biological, not economic commodity and strongly opposes water markets and water exchanges. He is a vocal critic of consumerism, capitalism, large-scale dam construction, inter-basin water transfer projects, petrochemical industries, mining, nuclear activities, and the export of water-intensive agricultural and dairy products.

He has led several successful national campaigns, including:

– Stopping the Bagh-Shahr (Garden City) project during the Ahmadinejad era

– Protection of the Asiatic cheetah and other endangered species

– Promotion of cycling and car-free Tuesdays

– Nature schools and children’s exposure to nature

– Waste separation at source

– Support for injured environmental guards

He has collaborated with filmmakers and documentary makers such as Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Kamyal Sohani, Mohammad Ehsani, Seyed Mostafa Mousavi Tabar, and others on projects related to Eskandar Firouz, Mahlagha Mallah, dam critiques, sinkholes, and inter-basin water transfer schemes.

In the 2024 presidential election, he publicly supported Masoud Pezeshkian and joined his campaign’s environmental committee, emphasizing that no environmentally destructive project would be approved under Pezeshkian’s presidency.

 Honors and Recognitions

– Top Researcher of the Year, 1999 (for desertification mapping feasibility study)

– Best Strategic Report of the 20-Year Vision, Ministry of Jihad-e Agriculture, 2007

– Third Best Environmental Blog in the World, 2009 (“Desertification Control”)

– Top Environmental Figure of the Year, Iranian Evaluation Association, 2012

– Best Environmental Blogger in Iran, Meshkat Festival, 2013

– First Environmental Blog in the World, Global Media Summit, Bonn, Germany, 2013

– People’s Tribute as Lasting Environmental Figure, Tirgan Festival & National Damavand Day, 2014 and 2017

– Honorary Citizen of Minab, 2017

– Honorary Citizen of Quchan, 2019

– Cycling Promotion Ambassador, Ministry of Sports and Youth, 2018

– Commemorative Stamp issued by citizens of Yazd and Neyshabur, 2019

– Recipient of the First Henrik Majnounian Award for Environmental Science Promoters, Iranian Association for the Promotion of Science, 2021