Revitalization of the Bahzani Olive Grove for the Yazidi Community

The Yazidi community considers olive trees a sacred natural heritage and uses olive oil in religious ceremonies. The olive grove in front of the Yazidi mausoleum of Sheikh Bakeur al-Qatani, west of Bahzani, was attacked by Daesh between 2014 and 2016. As a result, 800 of the 3,000 olive trees were completely burnt, and 2,200 were damaged. Many of these trees were over 100 years old.

To revitalize the grove, the project built a protective barrier to safeguard the seedlings from animals and intruders. During the second part of the project, launched in February 2021, the project team cleaned the damaged trees, uprooting the burnt ones, and replacing them with new trees. The last step was to repair the irrigation canals to ensure the sustainability of the grove.