{{Short description|none}} {{use list-defined references|date=March 2015}} {{use dmy dates|date=March 2015}} {{Use British English|date=March 2015}} [[File:PinusbrutiaSaladin.jpg|thumb|right|''Pinus brutia'' woodland in the al-Ansariyah mountains]] Forest resources in Syria are in need of study and conservation. Syria is an important centre of biological diversity containing 3077 species of plants, most of which are endemic to the Mediterranean or Iran-Turanian regions.{{r|fao}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Daiyoub |first=Angham |last2=Saura-Mas |first2=Sandra |last3=Maarouf |first3=Yakzan |date=2024-12-01 |title=The impact of war on forest logging: Changes in logging practices in Syrian rural communities |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719324001754 |journal=Trees, Forests and People |volume=18 |article-number=100668 |doi=10.1016/j.tfp.2024.100668 |issn=2666-7193|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aldakhil |first=M. |last2=Abdullateef |first2=S. |last3=Mahmoud |first3=F. |last4=Alhasan |first4=A. |last5=Lakmes |first5=A. |last6=Al Abdullah |first6=M. |last7=Watmough |first7=G. R. |date=2023 |title=A primary evaluation of Syrian forest damage since 2011: a case study of Alhamam and Alboz forest sites |url=https://iforest.sisef.org/contents/?id=ifor4032-016 |journal=iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry |language=en |volume=16 |issue=3 |page=144 |doi=10.3832/ifor4032-016 |issn=1971-7458|hdl=20.500.11820/da5e77d2-e5c1-4b01-a812-b11e7f2cd4bd |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The wooded area of the country is variously reported as approximately 190,000 hectares (1.0 per cent){{r|fao}} or 450,000 hectares (2.4 per cent).{{r|ghalia}}
The principal woodland trees are ''Pinus brutia'', the Turkish pine; ''Abies cilicica'', the Cilician fir; ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon; ''Cupressus sempervirens'', the Mediterranean cypress; ''Pinus halepensis'', the Aleppo pine; ''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak; ''Quercus calliprinos'', the Palestine oak; ''Quercus cerris'' sp. ''pseudocerris'', the Turkey oak; ''Quercus infectoria''; and ''Castanea sativa'', the common chestnut.{{r|fao|ghalia}}
== Risks due to natural disasters, unexploded ordnance, arson, & anthropogenic climate change == Forests and forest resources in Syria are at grave risk due to forest fires and globally occurring manmade climate change. A large-scale forest fire in Latakia in 2025 has destroyed numerous forested groves which span the hilly terrain of coastal Syria & neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon and also Turkey.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkiye's Izmir, Hatay and Syria's Latakia regions affected by wildfires |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/5/izmir-villages-in-turkiye-affected-by-wildfires-now-under-control |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref> Such large-scale wildfires as witnessed in Latakia and neighbouring Hatay. Firefighting crews, volunteers and The Syrian Civil Defence Forces, the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management. The government has also reported difficulty in battling these wildfires due to the noted occurrence of unexploded ordnance in some of the areas affected.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wildfires break out in Turkey, Syria and Greece - with towns near Athens evacuated |url=https://news.sky.com/story/wildfires-break-out-in-turkey-syria-and-greece-with-towns-near-athens-evacuated-13392686 |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ward |first=Euan |date=2025-07-04 |title=Wildfires Sweep Syria's Coast as Drought Strains Fragile State |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/04/world/middleeast/syria-wildfires-drought.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201106093419/https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-israel-makes-the-most-of-one-more-day-of-the-trump-administration-1.9292362 |archive-date=6 November 2020 |access-date=2025-07-06 |work=The New York Times |url-access=subscription |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-05 |title=Turkey sends firefighting aircraft to Syria as wildfires rage on both sides of the border |url=https://apnews.com/article/turkey-syria-wildfires-latakia-hatay-f6ebf56bdffe4b0f799dfbe1bc9230d2 |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
It has been found that from 2001 to 2024, Syria has lost approximately 18.00 kha of tree cover due to forest fires and 12.5 kha from all other types of losses with 2012 being the most devastating period where Syria lost over 3.92 kha of forest cover to fires i.e. 73% of all forest cover in that year. With Al Faralaq forest witnessing massive degradation due to forest fires.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shahin |first=Kamal |date=10 October 2025 |title=The last battle to save a forest reserve in Syria |url=https://syriauntold.com/2025/10/10/the-last-battle-to-save-a-forest-reserve-in-syria/ |url-status=live |website=Syria Untold}}</ref>
Such events will aggravate the Syrian economy as it is still grappling with a drought and severe depletion of fresh water hydrological resources due to non-maintenance and next to no upkeep of hydrological infrastructure. Over the past years, an unprecedented fuel crisis in regime-held parts of Syria has driven increased logging. As people increasingly rely on firewood, demand increases and its price goes up. Farmers, who cannot care for their trees properly due to water shortages and the high cost of fertilizers and pesticides, face difficult choices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Mateo |date=2024-03-12 |title=Under the axe: The fall of Daraa's forests and fruit trees |url=https://syriadirect.org/under-the-axe-the-fall-of-daraas-forests-and-fruit-trees/ |access-date=2026-04-11 |website=Syria Direct |language=en-US}}</ref> Most land irrigation in Syria and river water management are largely unsustainable hence droughts are getting more frequent with longer duration.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baba |first=Alper |last2=Karem |first2=Ruwad AL. |last3=Yazdani |first3=Hamidreza |date=2021-08-01 |title=Groundwater resources and quality in Syria |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352801X21000746 |journal=Groundwater for Sustainable Development |volume=14 |article-number=100617 |doi=10.1016/j.gsd.2021.100617 |issn=2352-801X|hdl=11147/11434 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Khouri |first=J. |date=May 1982 |title=Hydrogeology of the Syrian steppe and adjoining arid areas |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/abs/10.1144/gsl.qjeg.1982.015.02.05 |journal=Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=135–154 |doi=10.1144/GSL.QJEG.1982.015.02.05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dagres |first=Holly |date=2022-02-24 |title=Syria has a water crisis. And it's not going away. |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/syria-has-a-water-crisis-and-its-not-going-away/ |access-date=2025-07-06 |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US}}</ref> This is further exacerbated by arson allegedly committed by former Assad remnants.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-19 |title=Ministry of Defense reported that a group of former regime remnants was arrested while attempting to ignite fires in the forested area of Mukhtariya village in rural Latakia. |url=https://x.com/Levant_24_/status/1946526447679734201|author=Levant24 |access-date=2025-07-19 |website=X (Formerly Twitter) |language=en-US}}</ref>
A report from June 2025, showed that since the Israeli invasion of Syria in 2024, the Israelis have deforested large portions of the Quneitra governorate.<ref name="Besan Khalaf">{{cite news|title=Israeli excavation and eviction orders indicate plans to occupy lands in Quneitra |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2025/06/israeli-excavation-and-eviction-orders-indicate-plans-to-occupy-lands-in-quneitra/|website=Enab Baladi|date=20 June 2025|last=Khalaf|first=Besan|access-date=29 July 2025}}</ref> Hundreds of acres of trees have been cut down by Israel including the Jabaatha Nature Reserve and Kudna forest have been destroyed.<ref name="Besan Khalaf" /> The deforestation threatens wildlife and biodiversity in the region.<ref name="Besan Khalaf" /> Post-war effective forest management will be vital to ensure the sustainable use and recovery of forest resources, supporting both ecological restoration and economic stability for the rural communities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Daiyoub |first=Angham |last2=Saura-Mas |first2=Sandra |last3=Maarouf |first3=Yakzan |date=2024-12-01 |title=The impact of war on forest logging: Changes in logging practices in Syrian rural communities |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666719324001754 |journal=Trees, Forests and People |volume=18 |article-number=100668 |doi=10.1016/j.tfp.2024.100668 |issn=2666-7193|doi-access=free }}</ref>
Through studies conducted by using remote sensing and machine alogrithms with the aid of LANDSAT and PALSAR imagery researchers from CREAF, Spain have estimated that 19.3% of Syria's forests have been wiped out since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 deforesting around 63,000 hectares of forested/wooded and agro-forestry/commericial forest produce plantations. With regions like Northern Daraa and Idlib being where studies have been conducted.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The war in Syria has wiped out 19% of the country's forests, equivalent to the entire metropolitan area of Barcelona {{!}} CREAF |url=https://www.creaf.cat/en/articles/war-syria-has-wiped-out-19-countrys-forests-equivalent-entire-metropolitan-area-barcelona |access-date=2026-04-07 |website=www.creaf.cat}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Aldakhil |first=M. |last2=Abdullateef |first2=S. |last3=Mahmoud |first3=F. |last4=Alhasan |first4=A. |last5=Lakmes |first5=A. |last6=Al Abdullah |first6=M. |last7=Watmough |first7=G. R. |date=2023 |title=A primary evaluation of Syrian forest damage since 2011: a case study of Alhamam and Alboz forest sites |url=https://iforest.sisef.org/contents/?id=ifor4032-016 |journal=iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry |language=en |volume=16 |issue=3 |page=144 |doi=10.3832/ifor4032-016 |issn=1971-7458|hdl=20.500.11820/da5e77d2-e5c1-4b01-a812-b11e7f2cd4bd |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
==See also== *Ajloun Forest Reserve (Jordan, near Syria) *Cedars of God (Lebanon) *Dibeen Forest Reserve (Jordan, near Syria)
==References== <references>
<ref name=fao>J. Rolley (1948). [http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5343e/x5343e06.htm# Forest conditions in Syria and Lebanon]. ''Unasylva'' '''2''' (2): 77-80. Accessed March 2015.</ref>
<ref name=ghalia>Ghalia Martini (2007). [http://www.florasyria.com/uploadFiles/coastal%20mountains%20syrian%20forests.pdf Vegetation: The Mediterranean Forests of Coastal Mountains]. Faculty of Agriculture, Aleppo University. Accessed March 2015.</ref>
</references>
{{Asia topic|Forestry in}} {{Forestry by country}} {{Forestry}}
Category:Forests of Syria Category:Forestry in Asia