Wildfires have burnt at least 5,000 dunams of land in the province of Sulaymaniyah this year alone, including farmland and forests, according to the Department of Forests in the city.
Head of the Department of Forests Hawkar Jalal noted the density of bushes and the lack of easy access to some of these areas as impediments for extinguishing fires quickly.
Security forces in Sulaymaniyah have so far arrested at least three individuals in connection with arson, Kurdistan 24 reported today. Civil society organizations and government officials have stepped up campaigns to raise greater social awareness of the need to protect nature amid rising temperatures.
Protection of the environment including forestation remains a top priority for this cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
During the tenure of this KRG administration, numerous parks have been built throughout the Kurdistan Region, including hundreds of forestation campaigns aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. Additionally, the government has enacted stricter laws prohibiting deforestation.