Years of war, mismanagement and drought wreaked havoc on the fertile Ghouta countryside surrounding Damascus. Farmers face a host of challenges as they return to care for their land.
Syria’s environmental challenges have been sidelined—overshadowed by more than 13 years of devastating conflict and instability—but delaying climate interventions is not an option, Haid Haid writes.
People in Afrin remember the forest around Maydanki Lake for what it once was: a natural haven, the setting of summer days spent under rustling branches. Now devastated by years of illegal tree cutting by Turkish-backed factions, what hope is there for its future?
Wells that hundreds of Idlib residents rely on for drinking water and irrigation have been contaminated by waste at a nearby quarry-turned-dump, while local Salvation Government officials are slow to respond.
The unlikely fruit of war and displacement, unconventional crops like strawberries, broccoli and Damask roses are taking root in Idlib province, where they were seldom cultivated before the war.
Since late 2023, the Syrian regime has been waging a drone war in northwestern Syria. As civilians in areas near frontlines are targeted, the threat of attacks keeps farmers from their land, destroying livelihoods and threatening the area’s food security.
Waste is piling up in 194 displacement camps in Syria's northwestern Idlib province after three humanitarian organizations stopped providing sanitation and water services at the start of the year. As summer approaches, some 200,000 residents fear the spread of disease.
Trees have fallen under the axe in Daraa and across Syria since the spring 2011 revolution, cut for wood to sell or use as an alternative to heating and cooking gas during war, siege and economic crises. Since 2020, however, logging has increased to include fruit-bearing trees on private farmland and within cities.
Farmers in northeastern Syria are reducing the amount of land they cultivate or relying on the rain for irrigation as weak fuel subsidies and high costs make farming increasingly unprofitable.
Facing the impacts of climate change and the fallout of a war that turned water into a weapon, what are Syria’s children learning about the dangers of the water crisis they face?
