Nature Iraq, in collaboration with Komar Univeristy, the AUIS Environment Keepers, Sulaimani University, interns, and volunteers by an event have successfully celebrated the World Wildlife Day on March 3rd 2018 at Majidi Mall in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. Here you can find more about the event.  World Wildlife Day is on March 3rd. The theme for World Wildlife Day 2018 is 'Big Cats: Predators under Threat' Nature Iraq, in collaboration with Sulaimani University, Komar Univeristy, the AUIS Environment Keepers, interns, and volunteers; will celebrate World Wildlife Day to raise awareness on the conservation of threatened animals, specifically the Persian Leopard in Iraqi Kurdistan. The event will be held at Majidi Mall in Sulaymaniyah-Iraq, on March 3rd, at 6:00-8:00 PM. The event activities will include: Handing out an infographic brochure about the Persian Leopard and the importance of protecting this flagship species, in Kurdish language. We will distribute handmade Leopard masks on sticks for kids. Photos of people at the event will be taken with the WWD2018 action cards. The WWD posters will be distributed. The WWD2018 advocacy video as well as our Persian Leopard Conservation project video will be screened. Signatures will be collected to enforce the local government to make protected areas creation a priority, using the Leopard as a flagship species. We will post our event activities to Nature Iraq websites, Facebook, and Twitter pages. Our members are invited to attend this event. Help us celebrate this day and raise awareness on the conservation of the Persian Leopard in Kurdistan. Let's build a better future together, for us and the wildlife.
Throughout these acts and activities of advocacy project and in the beginning of the new academic year of 2017 – 2018 in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, we have undertaken a plan of distributing nearly 800 Environment Friend coloring book over several primary schools in Sulaymaniyah and Erbil. Meanwhile we have promised both our projects trainee teachers in August 2017 that in the beginning of the new academic year we will pay them a visit to provide them special drawing notebooks additional environmental instructions and awareness within our projects for students in regards to dangers on environment starting through schools up to their homes then to inside the community. This is why, on 19th November 2017, we have conducted our plan which included the distributing of Environment Friend coloring book and a set of colour pencils over Stage-2 or Stage-3 or Stage-4 students of each school. It is worth mentioning that we will sustain the plan of distributing art notebooks to the schools up to 22nd December 2017. In April 2017, we have undertaken a plan of distributing the coloring book for the first time, meanwhile upon request of several other schools, we asked the European Union which is funding our project to reprint 1000 more copies and purchase colour pencil sets for the second term. Happily, they showed consent and encouraged us to administer the enactment of Advocacy project that we have already undertaken to start the plan of printing and distributing over schools. Thankfully in Erbil, the Department of Environment of Erbil showed its cooperation in this widespread environment campaign. Sulaimani City Primary school names: Runaki, Qamishlo, Hajar Mukriyane, Mawlana Khalid, Roz english, Aynda & Makwan Erbil City
Primary school names: Blnd, Awrng, Old Topzawa, Argush & Turaq
 From left to right:
Diary Muhamad, EU project Coordinator. Samad Mohammed, Head of the Environmental Protection and Improvement Board in KRG. Razhan Aso, Legal Assistant of EU Project. Team of Iraq Water keeper Environmental Law and Advocacy project under Nature Iraq organization maintains a follow-up order for laws, instructions and policies of environment enacted by legislative authority; it continuously attempted to maintain the role of civil society organizations, made peoples get involved perspectives in terms of composition and writing drafts of environment laws. For this reason, we assumed organizing a joint meeting to be held in the ministry of agriculture and water resources in Erbil, on 06/12/2017, where Mr. Dr. Anwar Omar Qadir as the director-general of planning and follow-up department under ministry of agriculture and water resources, Mr. Hussein Hama Karim Rahim as general director of forests department, director of Erbil Forests, representative of board of protecting and improving the environment, representative of Erbil Department of Environment, certain legal chief and directors of sections within directorate of Erbil planning of Forests attended the meeting. In general, the meeting objective shed light on environment laws, fertilizing the laws, pinpointing weak points of laws, amending the laws to fit the ongoing status of Kurdistan Region in addition to application of a strategic plan for executing these laws prior to enactment. Attendants concluded the meeting by issuing certain points for everyone to be adhered for the sake of environment laws enforcement as follows:
After enacting a law for forests, the law No. 10, for the year 2012, was published in the ‘Facts of Kurdistan’ newspaper under the ‘Law of forests in Kurdistan Region of Iraq’ to be executed accordingly. Being the Nature Iraq Organization, we found the importance of collecting different view point of environment organizations and related governmental authorities on ‘Iraq Water-keeper laws and advocacy project’ to better empower and review the law to befit in accordance with current status of Kurdistan Region. It is constituting an important law of environment in general and Kurdistan Region forests in particular. This was our reason for holding a joint meeting on 04/12/2017, in the directorate of Forestry in Sulaymaniyah, attended by personnel of the directorate and some environment related organizations. We believe that these sorts of activities will very many organizations to express their view point regarding related authorities. Thankfully, through attendants, we were able to state our view points on the law and discuss the execution mechanism which currently faces critical situations due to Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq financial difficulties. We hope to be coordinated by all to be able to enact a suitable law to better serve Kurdistan environment, better reserve the rights and duties of everyone within community, and to bring violators and vandals of forests before the court to face harshest rules. Nature Iraq, through two of its active projects, the Persian Leopard conservation Project and the Waterkeeper law & Advocacy project, successfully completed a rain water harvesting pond (small dam) project in QaraDagh area. QaraDagh is situated south of the Sulaimani city of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The area is located within the proposed peace park for the conservation of the Persian Leopard, an area occupying approximately 1643 km2 in total. This area supports a wide range of vegetation zones from Subalpine, High Oak Forest and Mountain Riverine Forest to Riverine Woodland, which provides a very good habitat for Leopards and Wild Goats. In addition, QaraDagh supports a wide range of fauna such as mammals (about 10 mammal species have been recorded during the Persian Leopard Conservation Project), birds, reptiles, amphibians, and a wide plant diversity. The pond was created at a location, on which wild animals including Leopards and Wild Goats and many carnivores depend, oftentimes having to walk long distances for a water source. In addition, as hunters usually use water sources to trap animals, this pond, once filled with rain water, will give the animals a greater chance of survival from being hunted while using the only source of water in the area during the dry season. We are expecting this pond to attract a great range of wildlife, from plants, to amphibians, reptiles, and Odonata. We thank the local government from the Ministry of Interior, the municipality and forestry police of the area, and a construction company, who helped with this project. We hope that through this project we build a stronger stakeholder cooperation for the Proposed Peace Park project and show that the sustainability of the area and the people’s livelihood is tied to the health of the ecosystem around them.  On 12 November 2017, Certificate of appreciation from the (Persian Leopard conservation Project and the Waterkeeper law & Advocacy project) of Nature Iraq to the municipality and forestry police of QaraDagh and the construction company which is Oranos company. |
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