Farmers in northwestern Syria confirm that fires, cutting trees and water scarcity have greatly affected them and led them to change the patterns of agriculture and shift from wheat cultivation to other crops.
This part of Syria has lost large areas of green forests during the war launched by the Bashar al -Assad regime over the opposition during the past 14 years.
According to a report prepared by Adham Abu Al -Hussam to the island, the loss of these forests on the climate and the agricultural movement in the region after losing the majority of natural forests and industrial forests, which led to the loss of many mammals, birds and rare insects that maintain the ecosystem.
Reform requires 70 years
The majority of the region’s forests have been subjected to fires in the past years, and requires returning it to its previous era from 40 to 70 years, provided that it is protected from fires, grazing and cutting, according to agricultural engineer Bilal Hamidi.
The period between 2014 and 2020 is a shocking turning point in the Syrian forests. Several fires erupted in many areas due to the Assad regime bombing sites from which the opposition forces advanced towards the Syrian coast at the time.
It also erupted and other fabricated fires and increased the unjust pieces in order to trade in firewood and coal as alternatives to heating with the poverty of the people, the scarcity of fuel and the high prices.
These factors increased the severity of climate change in the region, and the average temperature increased by 4 degrees Celsius between 2012 and 2023, and the average rainfall – according to the Meteorological Directorate – decreased by 35% during the past ten years.
These factors also led to an increase in drought and the low level of water in the dams, which left a significant impact on agriculture in the Jisr Al -Shughour and the Plain of the Jungle, where farmers complain of a significant decrease in production and a high cost in leaving well water to irrigate crops.
Bilal Jumaa, one of the farmers in the region, said that the drought and the scarcity of rain forced them to change the patterns of agriculture they used to as they stopped planting wheat and turned into cultivating other crops such as cumin and nigella.
This shift to alternative crops was due to the decline in wheat dunum production from 600 kilograms to 250 kilograms, says Friday.
Each hectare in the region lost up to 4,000 fruitful trees due to fires from 2012 to 2023, until the olive trees were cut and sold firewood.
