Culture

Kurdish environmental party in Syria plants trees to preserve nature

The Green Party of Kurdistan plans to plant 3,000 trees in Syria’s northeast this year in coordination with the local administration to preserve the environment.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2019/03/18 18:37

kurdistan Afrin Raqqa Syria Rojava Green Party

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Green Party of Kurdistan plans to plant 3,000 trees in Syria’s northeast this year in coordination with the local administration to preserve the environment.

Syria’s years-long civil war has had a devastating impact on the environment, particularly in the country’s northeast.

Established in 2013, the Green Party of Kurdistan supports the local self-administration and focuses on the environment.

In 2016, the group planted 1,000 trees and, a year later, they planted 1,200. However, due to the Turkish occupation of Afrin, the Green Party of Kurdistan was unable to continue their project in 2018.

Members of The Green Party of Kurdistan plant olive trees in the town of Hazime in Raqqa's countryside with the support of the local administration, March 18, 2019. (Photo: Kurdistan 24/Wladimir van Wilgenburg)

Despite that obstacle, Lukman Ahmi, the head of the Green Party, who is also on the advisory board of the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) in northeastern Syria, said they would plant at least 3,000 trees in northeastern Syria this year.

The project began on Sunday and will continue until “3,000 trees in all cities, in the cemeteries of martyrs, schools, education centers, and all self-protection bases” are planted, he told Kurdistan 24.

According to Ahmi, the Green Party decided to plant olive trees this year in commemoration of the first anniversary of the Afrin occupation.

On March 18, 2018, Turkey and Turkish-backed rebels occupied the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, a region famous for its olive trees.

Kurdish Green Party with support of local self administration is planting trees in northeastern Syria pic.twitter.com/JF4X22foVg
— Wladimir (@vvanwilgenburg) March 18, 2019

The Green Party, with support from the local administration, began to plant olive trees on Monday at a cemetery for fighters who sacrificed their lives in the battle against the Islamic State in the town of Hazime, in the countryside of Raqqa.

Hevin Sheikho, a deputy of the Ecology and Environment committee of the local administration, said they are planting trees “to protect the environment and atmosphere.”

The project “is an answer to the invasion of Afrin and the committee for Ecology and Environment is helping the Green Party.”

The political party is planning to plant trees all over northeast Syria, in Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen towns.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany