Goyzha Mountain Forest Burned for Greed

200 acres of 65-year-old forest on Goyzha Mountain were deliberately burned, raising suspicions about the involvement of capitalists seeking land for residential projects.

KURDFILE: Bashdar Bazyani

In a shocking incident, 200 acres of forest on Goyzha Mountain were burned, allegedly as part of a scheme to pave the way for lucrative housing projects. Over the past two years, six applications for building residential units on this land have been submitted by various capitalists. Despite delays due to protests from the forest department, these applications were not outright rejected.

Notably, the pine trees along Tasluja road were reportedly burned by an investor known as “D,” who then allegedly erased surveillance footage to avoid legal consequences. This incident is part of a broader trend; in the last three years, 3,245 pine trees have been uprooted by three investors for their projects, and 13,000 pine trees have been deliberately set on fire according to forest department statistics.

Currently, 25 percent of Goyzha Mountain has been allocated to five companies, with plans to give at least 300 more acres to additional investors. In May 2022, Bafel Talabani initiated a “one million tree planting campaign,” but only 345 trees were planted, and all have since dried up due to the project’s high costs.

The recent fires raise the question of whether these acts of arson are attempts to circumvent environmental protections. Each apartment in the new hilltop projects costs $10,000 to $15,000 more than units in the downtown area, adding a financial motive to the environmental destruction.

Historical context adds another layer of tragedy to this situation. The trees burned last night were planted 65 years ago during the reigns of Abdul Karim Qasim and Ahmad Hassan Bakr, funded by a budget of 50,000 Swiss dinars. Goyzha Mountain, which had only one official security employee who retired last year, is now left vulnerable to these destructive acts.