Iraq/Kurdistan: Fires and Armed Conflict Take Toll on Kurdish Flora, Fauna

Jul 5, 2018 | Fazel Hawramy, Al-Monitor
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Wildfires are common in Iraqi Kurdistan, a scenic region where many Iraqis seek refuge from the summer heat. Several fires broke out across the Kurdistan mountains in June, burning acres of land and forests and wreaking havoc on animals. The region has considerable rainfall in spring, but the mountains, covered with lush vegetation and trees, are susceptible to accidental or deliberately set fires in the hot and dusty summers. Forest fires have become a global issue. The Guardian cited data from Global Forest Watch asserting that the world lost more than one football pitch of forest every second in 2017. The destruction, some of it caused by wildfires, “poses a grave threat to tackling both climate change and the massive global decline in wildlife,” the report said.