PHOTOS: Nature preservation a longtime tradition in Kurdistan’s Barzan

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Preserving the environment and safeguarding aspects of the local wildlife has become, for many, and a way of life in the Kurdistan Region’s mountainous Barzan area.

Although the focus has changed over the years with the rise of modern environmentalism, the tradition goes back in some form for decades or even a century.

Many residents of the breathtakingly beautiful area not only actively protect wildlife from hunters but also do their best to anticipate and manage national threats to various animals, including wild mountain goats, which are often unafraid of human contact.

“The idea of preserving the environment is not something carried out by a certain group or environmental protection organization, but every single citizen in Barzan is taught to be responsible for protecting the environment and our style of living,” local environmental enthusiast Mohammed Rashid told Kurdistan 24.

He continued, “The people and the community itself must have an awareness of the importance of protecting one’s environment; it can't be enforced by the government alone.”  

Hunting animals and unmanaged cutting down of trees are both prohibited in Barzan and throughout Erbil province, plus other areas of the Kurdistan Region. This approach has been adopted by many residents of the area themselves, resulting in stunning mountainscapes for as far as the eye can see.  

Editing by John J. Catherine