Nearly eight months after the devastating February 6 earthquake displaced hundreds of thousands of people in northwestern Syria alone, few have been able to rebuild.
Farmers who rely on the Afrin River to irrigate their crops suffer heavy losses after the river ran dry this summer due to factors related to the February 6 earthquake and a changing climate.
Across Daraa province, groundwater is receding deeper into the earth. On top of climate factors like rising temperatures and fluctuating or delayed rainfall, human activity is taking a toll: Thousands of unlicensed wells have been drilled in recent years due to a lack of state oversight and a struggling public water network.
Once a traditional hobby practiced by a few hunters, falcon trapping is now a booming business in Syria. After 12 years of war and economic crisis, the trade is more popular than ever, and hunters are willing to take growing risks to catch the birds.
Syria's fertile Houran was once so productive it was called the "granary of Rome.” Today, farmers in southern Syria battle climate change and the economic fallout of war to make a living and preserve this traditional agriculture.
When Turkish-backed opposition forces took control of most of Afrin in 2018, villages on its outskirts became a line of contact with regime forces. There, residents face repeated shelling and cannot access their farmland, once their main livelihood.
IDLIB, ISTANBUL — More than 12 years ago, Mira al-Muhammad [...]
Cracks, soil displacement and flooding due to the February 6 earthquake severely damaged farmland along a 55-kilometer stretch of the Orontes River in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, wiping out farmers’ crops.
Damascus’ Decree 3 of 2023 provides tax exemptions and loans for those whose property was damaged or destroyed by the February 6 earthquake, but does not take into account displaced property owners and rights-holders or areas outside regime control, writes lawyer Manhal Alkhaled.
In Latakia, the Damascus-controlled province most impacted by the February 6 earthquake, “chaos” ruled the emergency response, amid concerns about long-term displacement in the absence of a plan for alternative housing.
