Beauty is not evidence.
Persian Wilds separates three layers on purpose: the visual encyclopaedia, editorial interpretation, and claims that require external scientific or historical authority.
Use the specialist source for the specialist claim.
A secondary article can be excellent reading without being the right authority for taxonomy or Red List status. The archive links outward rather than pretending one source can do everything.
IUCN Red List
Threat categories, assessments and conservation context.
Open sourceMammal Diversity Database
Current mammal taxonomic backbone from the American Society of Mammalogists.
Open sourceBirdLife DataZone
Species, sites and conservation context for birds.
Open sourceKew · POWO
Accepted names, synonyms, distributions and botanical reference data.
Open sourceThe Reptile Database
Taxonomic reference for reptile species.
Open sourceFishBase
Species reference and biological information for fishes.
Open sourcePrimary institutional reading.
The long reads use World Heritage records and specialist reference works as visible evidence trails, not invisible inspiration.
Hyrcanian Forests
UNESCO World Heritage record and supporting nomination material.
Open UNESCOLut Desert
World Heritage record for yardangs, dune fields and geological processes.
Open UNESCOThe Persian Qanat
Engineering, communal management and arid-land settlement.
Open UNESCOThe Persian Garden
Water, geometry, planting and adaptation to climatic conditions.
Open UNESCOShahr-i Sokhta
Urban organisation, trade, material culture and environmental change.
Open UNESCOEncyclopaedia Iranica
Specialist historical and cultural reference used for forest, garden and irrigation context.
Open IranicaNo decorative certainty.
- Population figures need a date and source.
- Threat categories should identify the assessment authority.
- Scientific names follow current taxonomic treatment, even when a familiar older label is retained as historical context.
- Artwork never substitutes for a specimen image or range map.
- Historical motifs retain provenance: site, period, object and material wherever known.
- Traditional plant use may be discussed historically, but the archive makes no medical claims.
Methodology edition · September 2026