Volunteering
Najaf resident collects tree seeds to support reforestation efforts
NAJAF — Rasool Mohammed, an employee at the Najaf Health Department, spends his free time collecting tree seeds to support volunteer teams working to reforest the city. Mohammed, who works at Al-Zahraa Hospital, has formed a team with friends to gather seeds and distribute them to reduce the costs for volunteers, encouraging more replanting efforts.
After finishing his daily shift at 2:30 p.m., Mohammed dedicates his afternoons to scouring Najaf’s streets for seeds from trees such as Albizia and Ziziphus. So far, he has collected two bags weighing five to seven kilograms each.
“I dedicate all my time to gathering these seeds and supporting volunteer teams by distributing them for free in the next planting season,” Mohammed told 964media.
He called on the government to ease procedures for volunteer teams and urged citizens to plant a tree in front of every home.
Green spaces in Iraq have significantly decreased in recent years due to urban expansion, inadequate environmental policies, and the impact of climate change. In Baghdad, green spaces have shrunk from about 50% to 17%, largely due to unchecked real estate development, poor urban planning, and limited government efforts to maintain or expand public parks.
Recently, Iraq’s Parliamentary Services Committee announced ongoing efforts to convert open land into parks, aiming to improve air quality and reduce temperatures.
The Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture reported it has planted over 6.4 million trees across the country in the past 18 months, surpassing the original goal of five million trees set by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani. The tree-planting initiative, launched in March 2023 at the “Iraq for Climate” conference in Basra, is part of a broader effort to address the country’s climate challenges.
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