Rojava: Women Restoring the Environment After the Devastation of War

By Berivan Omar, co-president of the Environment Authority in Rojava. This article was adapted from the speech Berivan gave at #FiLiA2021 during the Feminist Thinking Will Save the Planet Panel.

Since ancient times my country between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has always been a place of stability not only for humans but also for many types of plants and animals. All the necessities of life were available in that land including water, fertile, moderate climate and a culture of love and respect for nature which is the culture of mothers. 

This culture is still firmly rooted in my memory, where grandmothers and old women in my village cared remarkably for nature and spent hours caring for trees and plants and working to secure their daily needs from their homes and reusing all materials and spending most of their day in nature and not having to resort to using fossil fuel-based energy for lighting, heating and cooling.

With capitalist modernity sweeping the world, it greatly affected the existing culture and caused successive generations to move away from the culture of natural motherhood.

Then ISIS attacked our areas, threatening life in all its forms, especially women in mind and body. Several years later a country emerged from the darkness that does not recognize nature or humanity and those years ruined the system of coexistence.

Not only that, but thousands of trees were cut down and burned or used for purposes related to war, as happened in a forest in Raqqa, and thousands of families were displaced from the places where they worked and planted their hopes and memories. They moved to live in camps where the least necessities of life were unavailable and from there society’s priorities changed and headed towards securing what would preserve the lives of the members of the community. 

With the strength and determination of women and with their leadership we were able to stop the extermination of life and plant hope and victory in its place to restore life to areas where the pulse of life stopped for years.

With the defeat of ISIS from our areas we are facing big problems. How does one remove the traces left by the demolition of an environmental and societal system and the enslavement of women? Women became an essential part of the decision in reconstruction and management, which became clear over time, as great importance was given to protecting the environment and replanting the areas that were vandalized and moving towards restoring the cohesion of society. In terms of thought, we made great strides in terms of establishing democracy and freedom for women and working within ecological principles and foundations. Thousands of trees were planted, and extensive awareness campaigns began for all segments of society, and many areas that were used as random dumps were rehabilitated. Dozens of parks were rehabilitated, and sewage treatment projects, waste recycling projects and many other environmental projects were rehabilitated. All this was in light of the Turkish state's continuous threats to our regions which became a reality in 2018 in the city of Afrin, famous for its nature and its many trees where its people were displaced. 

Thousands of trees were burned and cut down and later in Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî where the scene repeated again and in a more severe manner as the water-supplying station was occupied that left nearly one million people in conditions of severe drought. Dams on the Euphrates River, the lifeline of our region and a natural source that shaped life around them, led to a significant decrease in the water level and agriculture was damaged and many people lost their jobs. Most of the workers on the agricultural land were women and that in light of the constant threats and instability, it greatly delayed many environmental projects. The inability to import technologies also hampers the process. 

However, we continue to work with our available capabilities as we have achieved a lot and seek to achieve more. Now awareness sessions are being started within schools in order to build a conservative and environmentally friendly generation. Several artificial forests are being worked on, and natural areas are protected and expanded by afforestation. Finally, I would like to say from personal experience that by continuing to work within women's departments we will restore our logic to the culture of thousands of years - the culture of mothers, which will protect and enrich life.

Berivan Omar was born in Rojava, NE Syria, where the women's revolution is developing ecological initiatives to tackle climate change. She studied agricultural engineering and has been working in local government since 2015 in the executive office and also the women’s department. She is now co-president of the Local Administration and Environment Authority in the region and responsible for the Department of Environment and Women.