A survey by the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture has revealed that, over the past 50 years, the Kurdistan Region has lost 50 percent of its artificial forests and 30 percent of its natural forests.
"According to these two documents, a survey from 1957 conducted by a forestry expert named Chapman in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq estimated the natural forest area in the region at 5 million dunams," Halkawt Abdulrahman, head of the horticulture and forestry directorate at the Kurdistan Region’s agriculture and water resources ministry, told Rudaw.
"The second document, in 2015, from our ministry, is a scientific survey using GIS and remote sensing which relies on satellite data, surveyed the natural forests of the Kurdistan Region and found that we have 2.5 million dunams of natural forests left in Kurdistan,” he added.
Luqman Sherwani, an environmental awareness expert, has warned that the consequences of deforestation, regardless of the cause, will be significant.
Two organizations have been working on planting nearly one million oak trees along the 120 Meter Road in Erbil over the past four years. So far, 300,000 trees have been planted.
"The project involves not just planting but also protecting the site with fencing to prevent damage to the trees. After planting, we will begin monitoring, watering, and taking care of the trees…” said Mohammed Yousef, the project’s director.
“Eventually, it will be handed over to the government to be turned into a park or a place for public use," he added.
According to the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, 12.44 percent of the Region’s area is green, whereas the standard range should be between 15 to 25 percent.