Iraq prioritizes green belts in national strategy to fight desertification

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Ministry of Environment announced on Sunday, May 31, 2026, that the development of green belts across the nation serves as a core pillar in its strategic master plan to combat desertification.

According to environmental officials, the execution of these ecological projects relies on close, localized coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture, regional governorate councils, and municipal authorities.

Najla Al-Waeli, Director General of the Technical Department at the Ministry of Environment, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that the green belt portfolio is an essential component of the operational roadmap under the National Strategy to Combat Land Degradation and Desertification in Iraq.

Al-Waeli explained that the operational rollout is decentralized, allowing each governorate council and local authority to design and implement specific green belt infrastructure that aligns with the unique ecological and environmental characteristics of their respective provinces.

While infrastructure execution falls onto agricultural and provincial agencies, the Ministry of Environment manages a direct regulatory and oversight mandate. The ministry focuses heavily on monitoring the loss of existing urban vegetation, which drives up localized air pollution and damages public health.

Al-Waeli noted that her teams are tracking urban afforestation initiatives to ensure a sustainable balance between Iraq’s rapid infrastructure, commercial, and economic expansions and its baseline environmental needs. Expanding these green spaces is considered vital to purifying urban air quality, lowering the impacts of climate change, and reducing the urban heat island effect plaguing Iraq’s major metropolitan areas.

The ministry concluded by pointing out that Iraq’s current favorable water season offers a critical opportunity to scale up national planting campaigns and stabilize the country’s natural vegetation cover. This seasonal water availability will heavily reinforce state-led anti-desertification initiatives, stabilize fragile eco-systems, and enhance the country’s overall capacity to adapt to shifting global climate patterns.

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المصدر: Iraqi News