Soran Administration's Balakayati
Revival project for crown imperial flower underway
BALAKAYATI – A concerted effort is underway in Balakayati to revive the Crown Imperial Flower, an indigenous species at risk of extinction.
Launched two years ago within the jurisdiction of the Kurdistan Region’s Soran administration, the project targets the conservation of this historically significant flower, which is celebrated for its vibrant colors, including a rare yellow variant.
The flower flourishes in Kurdistan’s cool, mountainous terrain, notably across the Halgurd, Kodo, and Sakran mountains near the Soran border.
Taha Ahmed Nawendi, who oversees the project, shared with 964 News the triumph of this year’s cultivation efforts and future plans to transplant these flowers into more protected zones. “Our goal is to relocate the imperial flower to areas beyond human reach to promote its proliferation,” Nawendi explained. Despite the setback of last year’s crop, which saw no benefits from the seeds planted, this year has marked a successful bloom.
This year’s project focuses on nurturing five distinct varieties of the imperial flower, with the aim of enhancing the region’s biodiversity and securing the species’ survival.
Recent years have witnessed a decline in the flower’s population, attributed to the surge in tourist activities and negligent human interaction with the natural environment in Balakayati. Notably, an area known as Chikan has seen a drastic reduction in these flowers, exacerbated by an incident where a swath of the species was destroyed by vehicles driven by tourists.