In war-torn Syria, efforts to save a river refuse to die

Editor’s note: This story is part of a collaboration between Ensia and Egab exploring environmental efforts by communities facing potentially more urgent concerns such as war and poverty. Egab is a media startup that helps young local journalists from across the Middle East and Africa get published in regional and international media outlets, with a focus on solutions journalism. You can read the other stories in the series here, here and here. On a cool day in March, Omar Abdulsalam walked across a stretch of empty farmland in Beit Sawa, a village east of Damascus, Syria, his head down in defeat. Usually, by this time of year the farmer would have planted winter crops like peas and cabbage. He had the seeds he needed, but the field remained fallow because of lack of water. In the past, Abdulsalam would have tapped the Barada, an ancient river that winds its way down the Anti-Lebanon Mountains to Damascus, where it breaks into seven tributaries feeding the verdant countryside of Ghouta. For years, local irrigation authorities who handle the distribution of water supplies allocated farmers a certain amount of time each week of the river’s water, depending on the size of the farm, but enough to irrigate crops. But in 2019, farmers say the flow to Ghouta was cut off. Years of overuse, pollution and drought had narrowed it to a waste-filled trickle. Syria is embroiled in a war that has already lasted some 12 years, killed more than 306,000 people, displaced around 14 million more and left nearly 70% of Syrians — 15.3 million people — needing humanitarian aid. Seeking safety from the conflict, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled to Damascus and its outskirts, and “an explosion of informal buildings popped up, mostly along Barada’s banks, piping in water and emptying out sewage,” says Rashid Dahna, an agriculture teacher at Damascus University. In the face of such destruction and despair, nature has been an overlooked victim. Restoring a Lifeline For Damascenes, the Barada River has long been a source of pride, and its abundant flow has, for centuries, been a lifeline… Read More
The post In war-torn Syria, efforts to save a river refuse to die appeared first on Ensia.