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?
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?
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.
Home to the wild ancestors of our most important crops, Syria once hosted one of the world’s biggest seed banks and grew several native varieties of wheat. But this collapsed during the war, and Syrians are now struggling to find good-quality seeds. How did the country lose its seed treasure, and with it, a wealth of genetic resources for humanity?
