Duhok locals frustrated with littering, arson by picnickers
DUHOK, Kurdistan Region - Locals in Duhok have begun closing off certain roads as well as access to several green spaces as a measure to preserve their nature against the constant littering and disregard of the environment by picnickers.
"We're not preventing anyone from accessing the area; rather, we've simply closed off the roads that pose a threat to the well-being of our villagers," Dawood Suleiman, the chief (mukhtar) of Piramis village in Duhok, explained to Rudaw's Haydar Doski on Wednesday.
He added that in the most recent incident which sparked frustration among locals, picnickers had set fire to a tree that had been in the village for over 80 years.
“Why do people leave their garbage when they come here? Why do they cut down trees? Burning 80-year-old trees? How can God accept this?” Suleiman decried.
Over the past few years, there has been a trend of fencing around gardens as a means of safeguarding them against picnickers and outsiders.
The villages around Duhok Dam are full of garbage left behind by picnickers.
"The situation in our village is very bad with picnickers, and there are many reasons for this, including them leaving their garbage in nature, polluting the environment and our livestock dying because of it, setting fire to trees that our ancestors protected for hundreds of years," Dersim Zaki, a villager, said.
The municipality has installed rubbish bins on all the main roads, but they say picnickers ignore them and throw garbage just a few meters away from them.
This is not the first time that people have been involved or held accountable for cutting trees in the Duhok province. Last year, a man was arrested by forest rangers for cutting down numerous oak trees in the province.
Green spaces in the Kurdistan Region are also severely damaged due to sporadic armed clashes and aerial bombardments of Turkey with Duhok province bearing the brunt of the natural crisis.
Kawa Sabri, head of Duhok’s forestry and agriculture directory, told Rudaw in April 2022 that around 50 square kilometers of woodland have been damaged in Duhok in 2021 due to the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"We're not preventing anyone from accessing the area; rather, we've simply closed off the roads that pose a threat to the well-being of our villagers," Dawood Suleiman, the chief (mukhtar) of Piramis village in Duhok, explained to Rudaw's Haydar Doski on Wednesday.
He added that in the most recent incident which sparked frustration among locals, picnickers had set fire to a tree that had been in the village for over 80 years.
“Why do people leave their garbage when they come here? Why do they cut down trees? Burning 80-year-old trees? How can God accept this?” Suleiman decried.
Over the past few years, there has been a trend of fencing around gardens as a means of safeguarding them against picnickers and outsiders.
The villages around Duhok Dam are full of garbage left behind by picnickers.
"The situation in our village is very bad with picnickers, and there are many reasons for this, including them leaving their garbage in nature, polluting the environment and our livestock dying because of it, setting fire to trees that our ancestors protected for hundreds of years," Dersim Zaki, a villager, said.
The municipality has installed rubbish bins on all the main roads, but they say picnickers ignore them and throw garbage just a few meters away from them.
This is not the first time that people have been involved or held accountable for cutting trees in the Duhok province. Last year, a man was arrested by forest rangers for cutting down numerous oak trees in the province.
Green spaces in the Kurdistan Region are also severely damaged due to sporadic armed clashes and aerial bombardments of Turkey with Duhok province bearing the brunt of the natural crisis.
Kawa Sabri, head of Duhok’s forestry and agriculture directory, told Rudaw in April 2022 that around 50 square kilometers of woodland have been damaged in Duhok in 2021 due to the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).