Mount Goyzha, or what is called the "Lungs of Sulaymaniyah", has entered the activation phase in order to provide clean air and a green environment to the city of Sulaymaniyah by planting 22,000 different trees and plants on an area of 200 Donums (20 hectares).
The initiative is a mixture of obligating telecommunications companies and an afforestation campaign on Mount Goyzha, but these efforts are not unobstructed.
Mount Goyzha is located in the northeastern part of the city. The area enjoys a picturesque view, in addition to its importance to the environment and air of Sulaymaniyah, and being a tourist facility.
There is a direct relationship between air pollution and increasing the percentage of green spaces. Planting more trees is a primitive and simple solution to confront air pollution, at a time when IQAir, a Swiss company working in the field of air quality technology, stated Iraq's air is among the "most polluted" in the world.
Sulaymaniyah Northern Province is home to 31 percent of Iraqi heavy industries, mainly steel and cement production, according to the latest follow-up and study conducted by the Azadbun Organization for Sustainable Development in the first half of this year, in addition to the presence of 600,000 vehicles and 4,000 electricity generators.
Aso Jawhar, the head of the Air Pollution Monitoring and Registration Authority in the Azadbun Organization team, said that "this is the main reason for water, air and soil pollution in the region. It releases carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrocarbons and many other toxic gases that pose a threat to the environment and human health."
An initiative to revitalize the city's lungs
In June 2020, AsiaCell Communications Company, in cooperation with the Civil Development Organization (CDO), launched an afforestation project on Mount Goyzha on an area of 200 Donum.
Barham Gharib, the Public Relations Manager at AsiaCell Company told (KirkukNow) that "this is the largest project for Asia Cell Company in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region to afforestation Mount Goyzha in Sulaymaniyah, and one million dollars have been allocated for the project."
According to officials at the CDO, partner of AsiaCell in implementing the project, 22,000 fruitful and non-fruitful seedlings have been planted so far.
"We planted 12 types of trees, including pine, oak, blacklock, argan, pistachio, olive, mulberry, cladishia and others," a CDO manager said, adding, "We will continue to work and take care of the trees in order to improve the environment."
The project came after the mayor of Sulaymaniyah, Awat Muhammad, announced in 2018 a campaign to afforestation the Goyzha Mountain after a fire broke out that consumed most of the trees in the area. The campaign was mainly directed at private companies as the local and Iraqi government follow austerity plans due to rampant corruption, budget deficit, war on ISIS and post Covid-19 economic recession.
Tariq Hama Gharib, the Director of the Sulaymaniyah Forest Police, who witnessed the announcement of the campaign, said that "AsiaCell Communications was among the companies that applied to participate in the afforestation campaign that entered the implementation phase in 2020."
The total area allocated for afforestation on Mount Goyzha as part of the campaign was 200 Donum, and Tariq says, "100 Donum for the company installing a communications tower on Mount Goyzha, and the other 100 Donum are part of the afforestation campaign announced by the mayor and AsiaCell agreed to participate in."
Instructions No. 2 of 2023 of the Environmental Protection and Improvement Authority in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region IKR regarding monitoring environmental violations stipulate that installing cellular communication towers, internet and other communication towers without the approval of the relevant environmental authorities will result in penalties that may include stopping the project.
When some companies pollute the environment, the government must allocate areas for them to plant trees
Companies were also obligated to allocate green spaces within the projects, with the municipality specifying locations that companies are obligated to plant.
Suwara Muhammad, a member of the founding body of the "Protect Goyzha" campaign, said that "planting trees is everyone's duty. When some companies pollute the environment, the government must allocate areas for them to plant trees," based on the applicable laws.
The "Protect Goyzha" campaign was established on May 30, 2024, at the initiative of the Environment Team of Azadbun Organization, after parts of Goyzha Mountain were bulldozed by a local investment company planning to build housing units in the area.
Mustafa Juma, the spokesman for the Sulaymaniyah Environment Department, expressed his support for the project, but said, "Companies must compensate for the environment. Goyzha has become green thanks to our support. Any person, company or investor who establishes projects that distort or pollute the environment must compensate for the damage they caused and an area will be allocated for them to plant trees."
"If the project does not have an area for planting trees, we will designate a location for them to plant trees," he explained.
New techniques for the success of the project
New agricultural techniques are being followed in the forest that was created to water and maintain the trees in order to ensure the success of the project.
The Public Relations Manager at Asia Cell stressed that the amount allocated for the project - one million dollars - is distributed over all stages of the project. "In addition to establishing the forest, irrigation systems were installed using engineering methods in addition to large buried tanks to store water."
He added, "Our project uses the latest agricultural and irrigation technologies. We installed a device under each tree that sends us alerts about the moisture content in the soil, to know whether the tree needs water or not."
Installing a fire extinguishing system in the Goyzha Mountain afforestation project, Sulaymaniyah, July 15, 2022. CDO
Fire extinguishing systems were also installed to protect the forest during any fire.
Goyzha Mountain enjoys a wonderful and picturesque view in all seasons of the year, but it is exposed to fires annually, the last of which was in August 2024, when the fire caused the destruction of hundreds of perennial pine trees.
According to the staff of the (CDO), a drip system was installed for the project and the trees are watered through a tank that holds 15,000 liters of water, and 39 fire extinguishing valves were installed to protect the forest from fires."
Both Asiacell and the CDO say they are working in different ways to increase green spaces and preserve the environment.
The Director of Sulaymaniyah Forest Police indicated their intention to announce another campaign to rent a quiz to replace the trees that burned this year.
According to a report by the US Department of Agriculture, each mature tree can produce enough oxygen per day for four adults to breathe, which stressed that trees are the largest oxygen factory on Earth. The report stated that "the amount of oxygen trees produce depends on several factors such as the type of tree, its size, and the surrounding environmental conditions."
There are no accurate figures available on the percentage of green spaces in Sulaymaniyah or the number of trees there, but according to local government estimates, the percentage reaches 15%, which is less than the global standard that stipulates that the percentage should not be less than 30%.
Sawara Mohammed said that "planting trees plays an important role in increasing oxygen production and purifying the air."
"The state itself does not pay much attention to the environment, but sometimes causes an increase in the percentage of air pollution by bringing in dozens of factories and companies," just like what is happening now in Sulaymaniyah, which has become the headquarters for more than 31% of Iraqi manufacturing.
There are 506 parks and gardens in Sulaymaniyah that have been completed by 2024, including seven large parks and 85 mdians, according to statistics from the Parks Directorate.
The KRG MOH says that environmental pollution is one of the causes of cancer, with 9,911 cancer cases recorded in 2023, and statistics indicate that lung cancer is the second most common case.
Watering trees... the biggest challenge
Securing the water needed for the Goyzha Mountain afforestation project still relies on traditional methods of using mobile tankers, and this is one of the challenges facing the project.
Some tree species need to be watered until they grow, but water is still transported to the project's water tanks via tankers. During the summer months, the trees are watered only once a day.
The project's organizers pointed out that they had not succeeded in implementing one of the proposals, which was to extend a water network to the project from the Qalachwalan area.
"Last year, we started implementing this idea, which is extending a water network from Lake Qalachwalan, but we abandoned the idea," without explaining the reasons for the failure.
The laws are good, but they are not implemented
Environmental activist, Suwara Mohammed, believes that another problem facing such projects is the failure to implement laws and instructions related to the environmental story as they are, so forests are often damaged by fires or by cutting them down.
Law on the Protection of Forests in Iraq No. 30 of 2009 imposes fines for cutting trees ranging between 25,000 to 1,000,000 IQD, but the Iraqi Penal Code No. 111 of 1969, as amended, set a two-year prison sentence and a fine for cutting trees.
"The laws are good, but they are not implemented. As environmental activists, we called on the government to support the implementation of the law, to oblige companies and organizations to preserve the environment."
The trees of Mount Goyzha are small and in the growth stage. No fires broke out in the area and the system that was installed to confront the fires was not used.
The spokesman for the Sulaymaniyah Environment Department stressed the support of any organization and project related to increasing green permits.
"They can submit applications so that we can designate locations for them to plant trees."
In this context, "We have obligated private factories and schools and designated locations for them to plant trees."
But Suwara Mahmoud says, "This is not enough, there must also be environmental awareness, the government must start spreading environmental awareness in the education sector and schools and reformulate the curricula in a way that serves the environment so that protecting the environment becomes a culture."
