Town outside Erbil joins Kurdistan Region tree-planting project
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A town just south of the Kurdistan Region's capital of Erbil has begun participating in a current campaign to plant trees, the latest area to join efforts to enhance the region’s nature and improve air quality.
Qushtapa residents aim to plant thousands of trees around the town, which neighbors the strategic road linking Erbil and Kirkuk and is about 18 kilometers south of Erbil city.
The local municipality directorate is sponsoring the campaign with the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, aiding in the process.
Speaking to Kurdistan 24, regional Minister of Municipalities and Tourism Sassan Awni hinted at an expansive plan that would focus on city centers, outskirts of cities, towns, and more rural and remote areas including villages.
Awni gave the interview at the site of a park in Qushtapa where many local officials gathered to support the effort.
He stated that local authorities would ensure a thorough process to serve local populations, calling on all citizens to protect trees near their communities and help them grow. “What we do is to serve citizens in order to maintain a healthy environment and citizens must help us preserve public property, including trees.”
Those involved in some similar campaigns in the past have chosen areas without sufficient nutrients or water the trees need to survive, leading to many of them to die soon after, prompting some public criticism.
In the city of Sulaimani, the campaign began last week, with Governor Haval Abu Bakr stating during an inauguration event on Mount Goizha that the local government hopes to cover close to 4,000 acres with trees.
Abu Bakr said that treeing this area would complete ongoing forestation efforts on Mount Azmar, which straddles the western side of Sulaimani and is a popular picnicking site.
Sulaimani mayor Awat Muhammad has said that he is hopeful that this campaign would improve both the air quality and aesthetics of the city.
The city of Duhok, which has suffered increasingly poor air quality due to the number of small refineries operating within its vicinity, has undertaken similar measures to clean the environment, as well as passing regulations to curb polluting practices of the refineries or closing them down altogether.
Related Article: Kurdistan Region closes 30 illegal oil refineries in Duhok
The closings came after a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) committee tasked with ending unauthorized refining and environmental activists raised the issue with the regional prime minister, pointing out that the makeshift operations were not legally registered and were having detrimental effects on area water quality and other aspects of the local environment.
Editing by John J. Catherine
