The head of Nineveh Provincial Council announced the launch of a large-scale tree planting campaign in the city of Mosul, center of war-torn Nineveh Province, with the aim of planting two million trees and then working to reach four million trees.
The campaign was launched on Thursday, October 24, in the presence of the head and members of the provincial council, the province’s representatives in the Iraqi parliament, representatives of government departments and a number of local organizations.
Head of Nineveh Provincial Council Ahmed Al-Hasoud announced that the goal of the campaign is to increase the percentage of green spaces in the city of Mosul and stressed that “this campaign will continue until we reach two million trees, but our ambition is to reach four million.”
According to unofficial statistics, since 2003, Mosul has lost more than 50% of its trees and green spaces. This percentage rises throughout Iraq, which embraced 50 years ago a green area that took 60% of its total area, and it has shrunk due to wars and government looseness to 5% only.
Iraq is one of the five countries in the world considered the most affected by the climate change, according to the Green Mosul International Forum.
The military operation to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS in Iraq has resulted in almost $50 billion damage to houses, power plants, schools, and other civilian infrastructure in seven IS-occupied provinces (Anbar, Babil, Baghdad, Diyala, Kirkuk, Ninawa, and Salahaddin), an assessment by the World Bank WB stated in 2018.
The initiative was called "A Tree for Every Citizen" with the participation of dozens of volunteer teams and with the support of the city's security services.
Sinan Subhi, Director of the Environment Department in Mosul, told (Kirkuk Now) that "trees are very important for purifying the environment as they contribute to releasing oxygen in addition to their beauty in the city," explaining that "these campaigns contribute to increasing green spaces and repelling dust storms laden with dirt."
Several provinces have been suffering from the effects of dust storms for years, especially in the summer, including Nineveh.
Mosul Municipality Media Director, Alaa Al-Haider, told (KirkukNow) that "Mosul Municipality has prepared 24,000 trees, 10,000 of which will be forest trees and will be planted in the northern bank of the city, in addition to 14,000 trees that will be planted in the right and left banks of Mosul," as part of the campaign.
A volunteer with the National Youth Team for Climate Change said that "this campaign aims to create a spirit of cooperation between citizens and government institutions to make the city green and protected from environmental pollution."
The Nineveh provincial council has been unable to hold regular sessions for weeks due to factions over the distribution of ranks and positions.
The council is divided into two factions. The first is the Future Nineveh Alliance, which successfully elected the heads of the administrative units holding 16 out of 29 total seats. This faction comprises the Coordination Framework forces, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan PUK bloc, Sunni members, and three minority quota members.
The second faction consists of the United Nineveh Alliance and the KDP, holding 13 seats.
The Presidency of the Council was elected months ago as part of a single package with the positions of the governor and his two deputies, according to an agreement between all the blocs, including the United Nineveh Alliance.
The KDP says they seek guarantees through agreement by senior official of the parties in Baghdad.
The Nineveh council and local government, including the posts of council speaker, governor, and deputies, were appointed in February by consensus of all council factions.
*This story has been produced as part of the 'Budget is Your Right' initiative, with support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
