Error occured during this request! Please try again later.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — More than fifteen trees planted by environmentalists on a main highway in the border area of Hawraman were cut down overnight.
“We are an environmentalist group who, for the past two years, have planted more than 500 mulberry plants on the road from Byara to Gulp village,” Rebaz Gulpi, the supervisor of the village’s environmental council told Rudaw on Monday, confirming trees were felled by unknown individuals during the night.
Fires have been started near the road in an attempt to burn down more trees, he added.
“I take this road at least four times every day, and every time I would come I would look at these trees and it would make me really happy,” livestock owner Mahdi Mahmood said.
“This morning when I came and saw that the trees were cut down, it really upset me, to a point that when I went home I could not stop myself and I came back here at around three,” Mahmood said.
Halabja police spokesperson Barzan Othman said that they had started investigating the incident.
Tree felling has become a recurring problem in the Kurdistan Region.
In addition to reports of Turkey stealing trees in Duhok province, civilians have also cut down trees for economic gain.
According to the board of Environmental Protection and Improvement of the Kurdistan Region, those rooting out trees and saplings, plants and grass on public property face a jail sentence and fines between 150,000 to 200 million Iraqi Dinars ($100 - $1,370).
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment