⚔️ Syria faces uncertain future as drought, war damage deepen crisis – PAX 

QAMISHLI, syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria (North Press) – Syria’s future remains deeply uncertain nearly a year after the end of its 14-year crisis, as drought, environmental degradation, and widespread wartime destruction continue to erode the foundations needed for recovery, as per a emerging field report by PAX organization that was published on Wednesday. The Netherlands-based peace organization visited Syria in November, meeting with local authorities, civil society groups and residents, while touring war-torn and environmentally ravaged areas. Additionally, the scale of destruction across cities and towns remains staggering, PAX stated, adding that millions of syrians remain relocated, and numerous more face ruined homes and devastated infrastructure. Concurrently, the report added, crisis-related damage to vital water and energy systems — compounded by rising temperatures, drought and environmental neglect — is creating growing human security risks.

In the city of Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, once rich with fruit orchards and agriculture, a 56-year-old farmer informed PAX how 1. 5 million fruit trees were destroyed during wartime shelling. Water wells were filled with rubble, pipelines shattered, and irrigation systems collapsed. By 2025, groundwater levels had dropped some 30 meters, leaving numerous farmers unable to irrigate their land.

Nearby, at a water-treatment plant in Madaya, a town in the northwest of Damascus city, capacity to reclaim sewage water for agriculture has shrunk dramatically — from 12,000 liters a day before the war to just 4,000 liters now. Yet the treated water cannot reach Zabadani, and with dwindling rainfall, illegal well drilling and soaring fuel costs for diesel pumps, many returnees have given up on farming altogether. However, obstacles to significant-scale recovery remain formidable. Public services are barely functioning, reconstruction has yet to begin in earnest, and international donors have held back funding due to sanctions, lack of governance capacity and concerns over corruption.

PAX warns that Syria’s road to stability must include urgent attention to environmental rehabilitation, water management, housing, and land-rights — or risk the collapse of rural livelihoods and a permanent cycle of displacement. By Jwan Shekaki