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.
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.
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.
Extensive earthquake damage to residential buildings in Syria raises many questions about what structural and legal measures those affected should take to protect their property.
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?
Beekeeping is an ancient tradition in Syria, where native bees used to produce world-famous honey. But decades of intensive farming, economic hardship and environmental degradation have shattered the delicate relationships that once united bees and humans.
In northwestern Syria, hundreds of makeshift refineries have mushroomed in the past five years, employing thousands of people. With no regulation, their impact on health, life and the environment is catastrophic.
Makeshift oil refineries endanger the health of workers and local communities in northwestern Syria. But their environmental impact, often overlooked, will also affect generations to come.
In the remote Rukban camp, falcon trapping has become an obsession among the desperate residents. But while hunters dream of changed lives, birds pay a high price.
