Revelers cut down trees for their campfires, others harm the wild animals, and most leave behind piles of trash littering the green hills and valleys that hosted their festivities.
Any harm to the environment is “immoral,” said Hawkar Ali, a geologist who has volunteered for many projects to clean the countryside.
He said picnickers need to learn that every single small piece of trash they discard will add up. He has put on seminars and social media campaigns to encourage people to protect the environment and wants to see respected figures and politicians get on board to raise awareness about the issue.
"According to global environmental standards, they should act and show people how to protect the environment," he said. "The protection of the environment in the end is the responsibility of all of us.”
This year, politicians have gone green in their Newroz messages.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani called on picnickers to "respect nature and keep the environment of Kurdistan clean."
His deputy, Qubad Talabani, said “the excitement of Newroz has to encourage us to love our homeland and soil even more. We have to make use of Newroz for renewal, environmentalism, and making Kurdistan green."
The head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani also weighed in.
"I hope this year's Newroz becomes a beginning of peace for all people of Kurdistan... and I am calling on the beloved people to make keeping the beautiful environment of our country their main duty," he urged.
Kurdish households are often empty during the spring months as families flock to the countryside for picnics, sometimes joking referred to as Kurds’ national sport.
But Kurdistan’s environment is under a lot of strain. More than 2.2 million acres of natural and manmade forest have been destroyed over the past 19 years due to fires, deforestation, and limited budgets to protect and maintain them. Most of the destruction occurred over the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The KRG’s Ministry of Agriculture conducted a survey of green sites last year in cooperation with universities in Zakho, Salahaddin, and Garmian.
Using satellite imagery and remote sensors, they found that green areas now make up just over 12 percent of Kurdistan Region territory. The province of Duhok has the highest rate of green space with just over 27 percent, followed by Halabja with 10 percent). Sulaimani and Erbil both have nine percent green space.
According to the survey, 1.3 million acres of forest have been burned in the past eight years, 57 percent of that in the past three years.
The war with ISIS was a contributing factor to the environmental degradation, according to Dildar Abdullah Malazada, head of the forestry department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
"Due to the war on ISIS, the police force tasked with protecting forests was reassigned to protecting government institutions. Nearly 40 percent of the loss of forests happened in the past five years,” Malazada said.
The Ministry of the Interior’s Environment Police have taken steps to prevent further destruction of the forests during the Newroz holiday. They have sent out teams to hand out instructions to drivers and picnickers cautioning them that the environment "must be protected,” said Brig. Gen. Bawil Agha, general manager of the specialized police force.
They aim to prevent littering and stop “irresponsible people” who “cut down trees and hunt the beautiful wild birds and animals,” Agha added.
Poaching is more common in the Garmian area of Sulaimani and Makhmour in Erbil provinces while the mountainous areas see a lot of trees cut down.
"Please, please, do love your country, do not cut down trees, do not kill wild birds and animals, do not litter the resorts. This is your own country, just love it," he said in an emotional plea.
His police are on alert, especially in the resorts and areas popular with visitors.
Agha admitted that five years of financial woes limited their activity to a large extent, but he also put some blame on the KRG saying they "do not have a clear vision" for putting things in order in the post-ISIS era.
A forestry official in Sulaimani said they need to be more vigilant this year since a rainy winter has boosted the environment and they have noticed an increase in the number of wild animals.
They will be more careful to prevent those who want to “spoil our amazing environment,” said Kamarkhan Afandi, media officer of the Sulaimani Forestry Department.
Like Agha, his teams will be in the fields, monitoring the celebrations and advising people to protect the environment.
A week before Newroz, the Erbil government sent cleaning crews out to popular picnic spots to make sure they are ready to welcome visitors.
Mohammed Sumon, 22, a worker from Bangladesh picking up trash in Dilopa, said he had come thousands of miles to clean up trash and called on people to stop littering.
"Love your country,” he said.
