Photo 1: A Syrian man walks amidst drought and low water levels in the Euphrates River, in the western countryside of Tabqa in Syria’s Raqqa governorate, on November 22, 2022. Source: Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
Author: Fanack Water Editorial Team
Syria is stepping up efforts to restore its degraded steppe lands, with new projects in the Badia focused on drought-resistant planting, grazing recovery, and water-saving measures. The move reflects both the country’s deep environmental strain and the wider global focus on rangelands in 2026.
A Steppe Under Pressure
The Syrian Badia covers more than half of the country and remains a key source of natural forage for livestock. Yet years of drought, climate stress, and unsustainable land use have left much of it degraded, with one official estimate saying desertification affects about 10 percent of the Badia in Damascus countryside alone.
That deterioration is not new. UN and research sources have long identified Syrian drylands as highly vulnerable to land degradation because of overgrazing, cultivation pressure, deforestation, and water stress. Climate change has intensified those pressures, making land restoration harder and more urgent.
Restoration Efforts Expand
The General Authority for the Management, Development and Protection of the Badia says it produced and planted 900,000 drought-tolerant seedlings over the past year, including forage and shrub species suited to arid conditions. It also used planting methods designed to capture rainfall more effectively and improve survival rates.
Officials say the authority is also using direct seeding with native species and rehabilitating grazing areas near rural communities. In parallel, around 20 of 41 service wells in the Damascus countryside branch have reportedly been restored using renewable-energy systems, helping livestock herders in a region where water access is central to survival.
Water Harvesting And Land Care
Syria’s restoration drive is not limited to planting. The state has also expanded water harvesting projects, including runoff-spreading dams and other techniques intended to reduce soil degradation, raise agricultural productivity, and improve vegetation cover in dry areas.
Those projects have been rolled out in several provinces over recent years, including Hama, Homs, Daraa, and Aleppo. The broader logic is simple: in drylands, land recovery depends on capturing and storing scarce water, not only on adding more seedlings.
Why Rangelands Matter
The timing of Syria’s announcement matters because June 17 marked World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which in 2026 highlighted rangelands under the theme “Rangelands: Recognize. Respect. Restore.”
That message fits Syria closely. Rangelands support livestock, biodiversity, and rural livelihoods, but they are easily damaged when grazing pressure rises and rainfall falls. Restoring them can improve food security, protect soils, and reduce dust and sand encroachment, all while strengthening resilience in a warming climate.
A Long Road Ahead
The government says it plans to plant 210,000 seedlings this year, as part of a broader target of 1.5 million seedlings over the next three years. That is a significant effort, but the scale of land degradation means success will depend on sustained maintenance, water management, and local cooperation.