For a better and sustainable

Objectives

To improve and protect the quality of the environment in Kurdistan.

To contribute towards protecting human health.

To ensure a wise and cautious utilisation of natural resources.

The necessity for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to participate in the international campaign against global environmental pollution.

The necessity for the KRG to issue new legislation and to practice available techniques to minimise release of pollution into the environment.

To distract the attention of international organisations such as United Nations (UN) and World Health Organisation (WHO) that Kurdistan like any other progressed country of the world is keen to protect and improve the quality of the environment.

Introduction

Kurdistan is the homeland of the Kurds. This word came into use during Zoroaster’s teaching around 600 B.C. Almost all known countries of the ancient world were referred to in the same manner. The ethnic name of Balluch for example plus istan forms Balluchistan which means the country of Balluchis; other similar examples are cited such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Hindustan, Arabistan and Kurdistan. It is worthnoting that most of these names are still in use and included on modern maps.

Kurdistan has a strategic location in the Middle East comprising important parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Due to the continental climate and the high elevation Kurdistan has cold winters. Snowfalls in December through February isolate many mountain villages. The harsh winter is responsible for the deforestation in Kurdistan. Deforestation causes erosion and loss of fertility.

Kurdistan has never practiced self-ruling, always tied with central governments and has been compliant in implementing their laws and decisions. The uprising of 1991 in Iraqi Kurdistan and the formation of the KRG have reversed all that and opened an opportunity for Kurds to govern themselves.

During my recent visit to Kurdistan and comparing that to my earlier journey of summer 1993, I noticed vast changes especially in the field of buildings, transportations, main roads and communications. I also noticed that population of the three main cities has increased dramatically with a huge increase in the number of vehicles which consider being the main source of air pollution in the cities of Kurdistan.

The KRG still implements the laws and decisions of the central Iraqi government. In this report I do not want to diminish the importance of these laws, but as an expert in the field of the environmental pollution sciences, I believe that understanding the impact of environmental issues is still of no worth of attention in Kurdistan despite the fact that this subject has become of great public and governmental concern in most of the countries of the world.

Pollution and Human Health

The release of dangerous substances into the environment comes either intentionally or as a result of ignorance or incompetent management. Human being and ecological systems are first to be affected when potentially harmful substances are released into the environment. This causes a great damage to human health, plants and animals. Recent scientific researches proved that most of fatal and chronic diseases are due to the exposure of human being to these substances.

Air Pollution

There is no doubt that air pollution is detrimental to health, especially to the respiratory system. A dramatic example of the health effects of air pollution is London smog of December 1952 when 4000 people were recorded dead in one day. In addition to Asthma, air pollution can result chronic illness and even premature death. For example Carbon Monoxide as an invisible gas produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-based fuels is a major air pollutant, it damages the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood and effects nervous system.

The major man made source of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) comes from the combustion of fuels and road vehicles. Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is highly toxic and causes throat and eye irritation, it also found to cause respiratory illness in children. In the presence of sunlight nitrogen oxides react photochemically with hydrocarbons from vehicle emissions to produce ozone (O₃). Ozone is an unstable oxygen molecule and a strong oxidising agent. According to the WHO low concentration of ozone in the atmosphere can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, chest discomfort, cough and headache. People who suffer from bronchitis or asthma are particularly at risk.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are substances containing carbon which evaporate easily. They are capable of producing photochemical oxidants as a result of reaction which oxides of nitrogen in the presence of sunlight; some are toxic or carcinogenic. They are present in exhaust fumes, cigarettes, synthetic materials, household chemicals, benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).

Benzene occurs naturally in crude oil and forms during the upgrading of fuel oil. It is present in petrol but not diesel. Benzene is emitted from vehicles during refuelling, by evaporation from fuel tanks and exhausts. It is also present in cigarette and cleaning products. It is toxic and exposure to high levels may cause anaemia. It is a carcinogen particularly linked with leukaemia.

Cigarette smoke contains a wide range of harmful chemicals including nicotine, tar, formaldehyde, oxide of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, cyanide, ammonia, arsenic, cadmium and acetone. Smoking causes eye, throat and lung irritation. It increases liability to lung cancer.

Other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and particulate matter (PM) are harmful air contaminant, detrimental to human health. A pollutant such as lead is a neurotoxin and it affects the central nervous system. The primary source of lead in air is car exhaust.

The quality of light, air, water and soil is fundamental in determining the health of plants and animals; all these essentials can be seriously affected by air pollution which in turn affects their functions.

Water Pollution

As the population in the cities of Kurdistan continues to increase the demand for freshwater obviously increase and this leads to water resources crisis. If the crises continue the quality of water becomes a critical factor, it limits future development and also affects basic health and hygiene. The effects of contaminants or pollutants on freshwater depend upon their chemical, physical and biological properties.

Groundwater is highly used in the developing countries especially in the remote areas. Agriculture, industry, petrol stations and landfill sites are main sources of groundwater contamination. Every year hundred thousand of people suffer from arsenic poisoning. Arsenic in groundwater may come from dissolution of sulphide minerals in soil. Exposure to arsenic causes skin cancer.

Lead in drinking water is released from lead pipes and tanks used for domestic purposes. Scientific researches show the possible impact of lead upon intelligence and behaviour of young children.

The use of natural and chemical fertilisers gives the risk of nitrate pollution in groundwater, streams and rivers. Concerns have been expressed over the presence of nitrate in drinking water and its link with stomach cancer and also methaemoglobinaemia (blue baby syndrome). Farmers have to follow rules to control nitrate leaching during fertiliser application.

Land Contamination

Land receives contaminants from a wide range of sources, including

Atmospheric fallout

Agricultural chemicals
Waste disposal
Industrial sites
Warfare and military training

In Kurdistan, unlike industrial countries, contaminated lands are limited, this obviously due to the limited number of factories and industrial sites. Having said that we should not ignore the devastating effects of chemical attacks on different parts in Kurdistan by the former Iraqi regime and hence it’s residual effect in soils.

Waste Pollution

The term “waste” covers anything from the contents of the household dustbin to high-level radioactive waste and other hazardous waste from hospitals, factories and other industrial premises. Poorly managed waste disposal sites could affect the environment either by contaminating the air, soil and water. In Europe waste is landfilled, incinerated or recycled.

I believe it is not studied yet how many thousands of tones per year of waste are generated in Kurdistan. Waste in Kurdistan probably is dumped or disposed in areas not very far from places where people live regardless of its danger to human health. Waste is classified according to its origin to non-hazardous and hazardous, it has to be dealt with accordingly.

Health and Safety at Work

The main purpose is to provide a comprehensive legal and administrative system to secure health and safety of people at work and to protect other people from risk arising from activities of people at work. Appropriate measures have to be introduced to prevent and control the risk. Exposure of workers to hazardous substances has to be monitored, their health have to be checked. Employees have to be instructed and trained about the risks and precautions have to be taken.

Managing Environmental Quality

The objective of this section is to link together the various aspects of environmental pollution and relates these to the legislative, economic and social practices to improve and maintain the quality of natural environment. This will cover the assessment of environmental quality, the setting of standards, limits, legislation and the way these are enforced by the government. In Kurdistan the Ministry of Environment (ME) must establish a strategy to achieve a comprehensive environmental management effectively covering all activities. It will be their task to form a Monitoring Strategy (MS). The objective of MS is to gather information on the existence of pollutants in the environment. Monitoring may be carried out to:

Assess pollution effects on humans and their environment, and to identify any possible relationship between pollutant and concentration and, for example, health effects.

Obtain a historical record of environmental quality.

Ensure the suitability of water supply.

Ensure the suitability of land use.

Assess the need of legislation.

It is very important to design a program to set up the objectives of the study. Once the purpose of monitoring is defined then the decisions on what to monitor, when and where to monitor, and how to monitor would be much easier. Monitoring the environment is a costly process; it requires stationary or mobile sources for sampling.

A Finance Committee (FC) working under ME has to draw up a budget plan and to obtain fund from the KRG and other sources. The funds available have to be spent prudently and effectively.

Conclusion

Due to the improvement of communications and use of satellite in particular, I believe high percentage of general public in Kurdistan are aware of environmental issues but unfortunately their opinions are not decisive.

The Ministry of Environment in Iraqi Kurdistan must establish offices to deal with environmental issues. Their main task will be to record, collate and analyse data on the environment; drawing up expert and management report.

A further aim and the important one is to develop ways to harmonise relations with other entities such as ministries, universities, local municipalities, hospitals…etc.

On the basis of what mentioned above, the council of ministers and the parliament have to adopt an action; in this report let me call it First Action Programme on the Environment (FAPE). This FAPE has to set out goals and objectives, legislation and regulations and defined principles, such as prevention is better than cure. The FAPE must stress on the need for all the sectors of the community – government, industry and citizens – to become involved and to take responsibility for the protection of their environment. Initially three areas require major effort and they have to be targeted; these are transport, agriculture and industry. Within each of these target areas the FAPE has to identify number of objectives aiming for sustainable development. After objectives and targets are set and programme is proposed, environmental issue has to be highlighted such as air and water quality, urban environment, waste management, climate change, protection of nature and management of water resources.