Taghi Farvar, a great man, has passed away. Member of Natural Justice offer our condolences to his family and stand in solidarity with others who knew and loved him.
Those of us who has the opportunity to travel and work with Taghi had our own, unique relationships with him. We appreciated him for his intellect, verve, audacity, joy, sense of humour, and – most of all – of his passion for all things that hummed with life, particularly nature and culture.
The news came when some of us were at a CBD meeting, using our legal skills to advocate for greater protection of biodiversity and respect for the human rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities. This coincidence and the outpouring of love and respect from people all around the world underscores that his legacy lives on and continues to grow in strength. Natural Justice, like many organizations, commits to continue to work for justice across the landscapes he cherished so much.
We’re grateful for his friendship, for his inspiration and the challenging conversations we had the pleasure of having with him. We’ll miss his hearty hugs but remember him fondly in many settings, including when sitting down for good food prepared by community members and looking up at the stars.
You can add your voice to a page put up by the ICCA Consortium here.
Kalpavriksh has written an obituary on their website.
And his good friend Ashish Kothari has written a blog post.
