On Wednesday, the Sulaymaniyah Forest and Environment Police Directorate announced that they had arrested a suspect for burning a 200-year-old oak tree in Alyawa village near Sulaymaniyah.

After the tree was burned, an investigation file was opened, and the relevant judicial authorities were informed, leading to the arrest of a citizen on suspicion of carrying out the act.

Last year, in September, the Green Iraq Observatory reported that Iraq had lost one million trees over the past two years due to severe drought, deliberate sabotage, and systemic neglect.

This incident is not the first time a 200-year-old oak tree has been burned in the Kurdistan Region. Similar incidents were recorded in Darbandikhan’s Rezhna village in 2024 and in the village of Demka in Duhok Governorate in the same year.