Shafaq News – Duhok

Duhok, one of the Kurdistan Region’s main forested provinces, has launched an unprecedented plan to plant more than one million pine trees using helicopter-deployed seed balls to restore mountain areas severely damaged by wildfires and bombardment.

Led by the local Zila environmental organization, the project relies on clay spheres packed with seeds and prepared for aerial release over rugged terrain. Zila’s media officer, Newar Salih, told Shafaq News that the technique is the first of its kind in Iraq, noting that the plan includes pine, oak, sumac, and other native species suited to the Region’s climate.

The project, he added, focuses on forested and agricultural zones that lost significant vegetation and now require what he described as major efforts to regain ecological balance.

The wider Kurdistan Region—which hosts nearly all of Iraq’s forests—has experienced substantial environmental losses in recent decades due to wildfires, climate pressures, and military activity.

Duhok has been among the most affected provinces, with authorities recording 1,382 incidents since the start of 2025, including 1,009 wildfires, many of them linked to Turkish shelling during operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara considers a terrorist organization. Last week, two blasts struck Mount Matina overlooking Amedi in Duhok, an area that previously hosted PKK positions and has seen intermittent military activity.

Read more: Kurdistan’s forests under threat: War, climate, and efforts to rebuild