Sustainable Development of Natural Resources and Support for Economic and Social Growth

Lattakia-The diverse natural resources are the backbone of the national economy and provide financial income to thousands of Syrian families and the fact that many natural resources have been depleted in Syria, especially in recent years due to many factors, including climate change, drought, rapid and accelerating population growth and the resulting encroachment of forests and agricultural lands and its natural resources. A number of Syrian researchers at the Agricultural Scientific Research Center in Lattakia have worked on developing preventive and curative scientific strategies to reduce the state of deterioration.

Studies have indicated that degradation is the result of non-scientific methods of soil management, which causes its low fertility and the increase of degradation, especially as water drift, erosion, misuse of flat and groundwater resources, forest reduction and low productivity as a result of erosion, cutoffs of forests and fires, and therefore the reduction of large areas of pastures, pastoral lands and irrigated lands in arid and semi-arid areas affected by random agricultural practices by indiscriminate agricultural practices.

Eng. Solaf Halloum, researcher at Al-Hanadi Research Station, explained the importance of carrying out an in-depth scientific and research study on the economic and social condition of population, income and development problems in the region in order to achieve sustainable management and access to the necessary strategies to reduce degradation of natural resources and enhance the participatory situation to develop agricultural plans and policies to distributeproducts and raise awareness of the concept of sustainability through governmental and non-governmental organizations and holding accountable those who deplete natural resources in unfair ways.

Mrs. Halloum proposed to combat overfishing of forests, rehabilitation of forests and natural reserves, forestation of areas degraded by local trees on scientific ground, and enactment of legislation and laws for the protection of forests.

According to Raba Issa, researcher at the Lattakia Research Center said that land use changes have had an impact on the sustainable development of natural resources, which have been affected by many factors that require work to protect natural pastures from overgrazing, random plowing and agricultural expansion at the expense of pastureland and rangelands by cultivating local varieties or a suitable intervention for the environmental conditions in the area concerned and the organization of grazing by the framework of cooperatives or associations and stop the urban encroachment on agricultural land and pastures.

Dr. Issa Kibibu of the Faculty of Agriculture, Tishreen University, said that agricultural residues are vital, vegetative, organic and industrial and household waste plays an important role in the production of combustible, combustible gas and its use in generating electrical, thermal, mechanical and kinetic energy and for the operation of cars and tractors.

“In accordance with the rationalization of irrigation water use and the use of advanced and modern irrigation and drainage systems to reduce soil erosion and saline, and to combat soil pollution with fertilizers and chemical pesticides by rationalizing the use of these substances by using vital alternatives and integrated treatment methods,” Kibibu said.

Sh. Kh.