With temperatures rising and the harvest season continuing across the Jazira region, the risk of wildfires in agricultural fields and dry vegetation has increased due to hot weather and other contributing factors. In response, the Environment Authority’s Reserves and Afforestation Office in Jazira has taken preventive measures to protect the region’s nature reserves, which were established to expand green areas and restore the area’s natural vegetation cover.
The measures included ploughing land inside and around the reserves, removing dry grass and weeds, clearing them away from trees, and preparing the soil surrounding the trees to reduce the risk of fire spreading. These steps are intended to prevent flames from reaching the trees and to protect them from the intense heat of wildfires, which can cause them to dry out and become damaged.
According to the office, the cleanup campaign will cover five nature reserves: Mezkaft and Mashouq Reserves in the Tirbê Spîyê countryside, Navker Reserve in Qamishlo, Mount Kezwan Reserve in Hasaka and Tell Tamer countryside, and Abira Reserve in the Jel Agha countryside.
Specialized teams have already begun work at the Mezkaft Nature Reserve in the Tirbê Spîyê countryside, with the campaign set to continue across the remaining reserves in the coming period.
These measures are part of broader efforts to prevent a recurrence of the devastating losses caused by the 2019 wildfires, which destroyed thousands of dunums of agricultural land and natural vegetation across the Jazira region. The fires also spread to several nature reserves, including the Abira Reserve, which sustained extensive damage.
The wildfires, fueled by dry weather conditions and strong winds, destroyed around 500 fruit-bearing trees within the reserve, while many other trees dried out or were severely damaged by the intense heat. In light of these losses, the Environment Authority has adopted early preventive measures this year to safeguard the region’s vegetation and protect its nature reserves.
ANHA
