Even amidst the devastation, communities are working to protect and enhance their environment.
Beyond the death and destruction, Syria’s war has had massive environmental consequences, including high levels of pollution, the decimation of forests and a dangerous accumulation of waste in besieged areas. Amid the regime’s failure – or refusal – to provide essential services for populations outside its control, local environmental initiatives in rebel- and Kurdish-controlled areas are bringing some hope to war-torn neighborhoods and helping people with the rising costs of such things as fuel and fertilizers. Here we profile some of these “green initiatives.”
