The land of Ash-Sham including Syria for thousands of years has been a beautiful country with snow-capped mountains dotted with clear and sparkling springsits slopes in spring covered with wild flowers- a place of fresh air and cool breezes. Having a balanced climate and pleasant weather there were many parks and gardens with fountains and small lakes and the vital rivers of the Euphrates and Jordan and their tributaries.

Ancient tall Pistachio and twisted old Olive and Fig trees grew majestically along green river valleys and gentle slopes. According to Syria’s Ministry of Tourism website there were many fertile plains such as Zabadani 45km north of Damascus known for the fruitfulness and spring blossom of thousands of trees- of peach almond apricot pear apple cherry and plum and the famous Damascus rose.

Ironically and cruelly this abundant land is right next to the now starved and dying town of Madaya for many months under siege by Assad’s army who were offering food in exchange for giving up land. Tragically the natural heritage like the architectural and cultural heritage in Syria is being severely damaged and in some cases lost forever mostly as a result of the Syrian war. What is the degree of environmental damage that the war has had so far on Syria and what are its wider consequences? Also what are the solutions?

Obvious destruction of natural vegetation trees and farmland and therefore wildlife

The effect of war in Syria has been devastating to large areas of its natural vegetation affecting both the ancient Pistachio mountain forests and the coastal forests. Amr Al-Faham of the Syria Recovery trust described in January 2016 how a lot of this has been a part of military tactics-for example fighting parties clearing areas on the front lines shelling forests of rebel controlled areas by the Assad Regime (including huge swathes of coastal forests) or cutting and extracting the valuable wood and then burning the remaining woodland (both the regime and armed groups).According to a member of Latakia’s opposition local council the regime burned about 70 percent of rebel controlled forests by systematically shelling the areas.

Smuggling of timber and animal parts provide an income for extremist groups and criminal groups. The markets for these are strong driven partly by the need in Syria for alternatives to increasingly expensive fossil fuels for cooking and heating. This requirement can explain the loss of much of the Pistachio forests in three areas- The Bilas Abu Rajmain and Abdel Aziz mountains. Hundreds of thousands of trees and hundreds of hectares have been logged and burned due to the combination of these factors. This could cause a combination of floods landslides and floods as has happened in other deforested mountainous areas of the world.

Pollutants from weapons- chemicals and radioactivity

Particularly within urban areas of Syria pollution from toxins endangers the health of civilians a ‘toxic footprint resulting both directly and indirectly from military origin contamination’.The research by Both and Zwijnenburg of PAX a Dutch peace Organisation showed in 2014 that artillery mortars and home-made weapons containing known carcinogenic materials such as TNT and RDX and toxic rocket propellants are used by a range of missiles launched by both the Syrian army and opposition forces. Also the intense use of large calibre weapons in the prolonged siege of cities such as Homs and Aleppo had dispersed a variety of munitions. These contain known toxic substances such as brain damaging heavy metals (genetically damaging) radiological substances and explosive residues.

Other sources of pollution include pulverised building dust which contains asbestos and other toxins especially when industrial zones are targeted and chemical factories looted. This can be inhaled and cause lung cancer and other diseases. A lack of rubbish collecting services to areas of conflict and violence means that toxic substances remain in residential areas and also build up in soil and water again impacting the long and short term health of remaining residents.

Unexploded mines and grenades everywhere

Besides toxins there are many unexploded weapons that have contaminated urban areas in particular the unexpected explosions cause injury disability and death every day. Philippe and Houillat described the findings of a 2015 report by Handicap International as ‘beyond our worst nightmares’. It said that explosive pollution threatens 5.1 million Syrians including 2 million children 75% of explosive weapons incidents taking place in civilian areas in Damascus Governate alone there were on average 7 deaths per day. In the city of Kobani a combination of mortars rockets artillery shells and aircraft bombs as well as improvised explosive devices littered the ground- to as much as 10 munitions per square metre in the City Centre where nearly 80 % of buildings had been destroyed.

Oil industry pollution

Due to lack of regulation and training due to the occupation of oil fields as sources of revenue for groups like Daesh the pollution from the oil industry in Syria is out of control. Both and Zwiglinburg in 2015 described how in illegal oil production sites unskilled rebels and civilians work in an unregulated and primitive way with hazardous materials. Unclean extraction and refining processes by local factions in rebel-held areas are causing the spread of toxic gasses smoke dust and leakages leading to the pollution of air soil and now scarce water resources thereby affecting local village communities and their cultivated land. Vast areas may be becoming unsuitable for agriculture. Already reports from local activists warn of oil-related diseases spreading in Deirez-Zour. According to a local doctor “common ailments include persistent coughs and chemical burns that have the potential to lead to tumours.”

How far this pollution can travel and how long it could persist

The countries whose air and water could be affected most by pollutants from the Syrian war are obviously Turkey Iraq Lebanon Occupied Palestine (Israel) and Jordan. Two important rivers- The Euphrates going to Iraq and The Jordan going to Lebanon Jordan and occupied Palestine both flow through Syria. Many people depend upon the water in these rivers.

The pollution spoken of above is likely to be contaminating these rivers. Soil contamination in particular could last for generations.

Besides thisthere has been high pressure on scarce underground water supplies in Jordan and Lebanon due to the needs of huge numbers of refugees from the Syrian warwhen housed in vast camps near their borders. Peter Swartzstein highlights the problem of the salt water leaking into freshwater reserves. For example in infamous Shatila in the suburbs of Beirut a place for 40 000 refugees from Palestine and now Syria. “People just don’t realise how critical the status of our water resources is” said Nadim Farajalla a Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources at the American University of Beirut. “Refugees arriving when there was already a drought really killed us.”

Some solutions to prevent further destruction

Obviously none of these environmental problems can begin to be tackled until there is peace in Syria. Even if the war can be stopped soon future peace and stability will depend upon managing the environment sustainably. Caring for the environment means caring for people. It is upon the natural heritage that future generations will depend for their livelihoods.

Once peace and stability is restored as we have hope will eventually happen hope lies in the ability of many plants and trees working with soil microbes to remediate soils water and air locking up and rendering harmless many toxic compounds even some that are radioactive. Even the areas surrounding Chernobyl have improved over the last 25 years due to these factors. Indigenous species may need to be re-introduced to the Syria and other remediating species from the surrounding region could be used.

A sustainable form of cultivation such as Permaculture or Agro-ecology should be established to produce all the food and raw biological materials needed. Food growing should be included in the regeneration plans of towns. The lack of human interference due to the emptying out of Syria may help the spontaneous regeneration of natural vegetation where there are sufficient rainfall and meltwater as well as nearby remnants of ancient wildlife habitats.

Another recent discovery that gives me hope is that genes have actually got the ability to repair themselves from some types of genetic damage caused by radioactivity and chemical weapons at least when the body is given proper nutrition. I refuse to despair and I trust that most religions agree on one thing- that to care for our future generations by caring for our environment is the only way to continue to live in this world.

The writer is a freelance editor an English Muslim with a Masters in Urban Regeneration. She can be contacted at