A human rights observatory warns of the bulldozing of agricultural lands and orchards in Baghdad

The Observatory said, in a statement issued on Tuesday, that ministries and government institutions have taken measures that include bulldozing agricultural lands and removing trees, considering that they violate the Environmental Protection and Improvement Law and previous government decisions stipulating stopping the bulldozing of orchards and preventing changing the use of agricultural lands.

He explained that the General Company for the Implementation of Transport and Communications Projects, affiliated with the Ministry of Transport, concluded a long-term investment contract with the private sector to establish multi-purpose warehouses on Bustan land in Baghdad.

He added that the orchard is still planted and has a water share, but the implementation of the project, according to the Observatory, will lead to the removal of the crops and the leveling of the land.

In a related context, the Observatory indicated that the Department of Roads and Bridges of the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Public Municipalities proposed a road route that reaches the city of Ali al-Wardi in the Nahrawan area of ​​the capital, Baghdad, saying that the plan intersects with existing agricultural and irrigation projects.

He warned that implementing the road according to the proposed route might cause the bulldozing of orchards and agricultural lands and the removal of homes for farmers in the area.

Regarding the desertification issue, the Observatory accused the National Center for Water Resources Management in the Ministry of Water Resources of not preparing sufficient studies on the causes of desertification and the repercussions of declining river levels and receding water bodies on agriculture and afforestation.

He also criticized what he described as the weakness of the procedures of the Ministry of Agriculture and relevant government agencies to limit the expansion of desertification, warning that the continuation of these practices, in conjunction with climate change and water scarcity, will increase environmental pressures and threaten food security and biodiversity in Iraq.