A Kurdish woman’s journey from unemployment to environmental artistry through the delicate world of terrariums.

In a quiet corner of Erbil, lush, miniature worlds bloom inside glass jars, each a self-contained ecosystem with a unique story to tell. These aren’t mere decorative items; they are acts of care, pieces of art, and environmental statements. This lush, living vision belongs to one Kurdish woman: Hero Mahmud.

Hero isn’t a traditional gardener. A graduate of Salahaddin University in 2011, she studied a field unrelated to nature or environmental sciences. Like many young graduates in the Kurdistan Region, she faced the harsh wall of unemployment. But instead of giving up, she turned toward the Earth – even if it had to be in miniature.

In 2019, she co-founded MAPDO, a community-based organization focused on raising environmental awareness. “We used to go directly into schools,” Hero says. “We didn’t just talk. We engaged with the kids, helping them see the environment not as a lesson, but as a friend, something to love and protect.”

Yet, Hero longed for a more personal expression of environmental passion. That desire led her to the quiet, green magic of terrariums.

Terrariums: Nature’s poem in a bottle

A terrarium is a tiny, self-sustaining garden sealed in glass. It requires minimal care beyond a little light and a drop of water every month.

“The terrarium is life,” Hero says, smiling. “It’s the environment in its most beautiful, gentlest form. It’s perfect for people who love plants but don’t have time to care for them.”

Inside Hero’s terrariums, small plants like fittonia, shamadoria, and mosses rest on carefully placed layers of sand and stones. Each detail is delicate, poetic, and infused with thought.

Hero doesn’t just plant; she composes. A poetess of vision and mission, she crafts dreamy microcosms that can be interpreted as a symbol for environmental and ecosystem restoration.

“I imagine each garden in my mind before I build it,” she says. “When a new leaf grows, it feels like I’ve given birth to something. I even joke that I have three children – my two human babies and my terrariums.”

A quiet environmental revolution

Hero’s work is more than a craft or art project – it’s a quiet act of environmental resistance. In Iraq, which is among the countries most severely affected by climate change, ecological awareness is urgent, with pollution from industries and disregard for ecological laws pushing the land into a visible decay.

“Kurdistan is less affected by climate change because of its geography,” Hero says. “But even here, the summers are becoming unbearable. My plants suffer in extreme temperatures. They’re not made for Iraq’s hot summers or bitter winters.”

The terrarium, then, becomes a gesture of hope and a reminder that nature still belongs to us, if we choose to care for it.

Hero sells her terrariums online, mostly through Instagram, and demand is growing. “People want alternatives to plastic flowers,” she says. “They want something alive. Something real.”

Building a greener future

She’s honest about the challenges, though. Many native Kurdish plants grow too fast or too freely for the confined space of a terrarium. “They escape the glass,” she says, laughing. “They don’t want to be tamed.”

Still, her work is gaining momentum and so is her voice.

Hero was recently selected to take part in an English language course run by the U.S. Consulate. “It’s a huge help,” she says. “Most of the research I need is in English. If I want to grow my project internationally, I need to be able to communicate.”

Her dream is to open a physical studio and a nursery where people can walk in, touch the soil, smell the plants, and maybe walk out with a living piece of nature.

Hero’s story is one of imagination, but also of hope, determination and hard work. “To any young person out there,” she says, “don’t wait. Start now. Whatever you studied, turn it into something. Create your own opportunity.”

Hero is also quick to credit those who helped along the way. “My husband has always supported me,” she says. “My whole family, really. Without them, I couldn’t do this.”

Terrariums as philosophy

For Hero, terrariums are a type of philosophy, a way of living gently and creating beautifully in a world full of politics, pessimism, and pollution. 

In the relative stability of the Kurdistan Region, surrounded by political uncertainty, Hero has planted a new kind of resistance: green, quiet, and persistent.

The next time you are in Erbil, pause for a moment. Somewhere in a quiet neighborhood, a woman peers down into a verdant world captured in a glass jar. Her hands are full of moss and hope, shaping the slow breath of a forest coming to life in glass.

Mohammad Dargalayi is a journalist and photographer with 14 years of experience. He is a member of IFJ Global.