ERBIL — On September 16, 2026, academic representatives from the University of Duhok attended a significant meeting in Erbil focused on the "Biodiversity Project in Kurdistan," an expansive environmental initiative organized by the Kurdistan Foundation.

The University of Duhok was proudly represented by two of its esteemed faculty members: Assistant Professor Honar Safar Mahdi, an expert in Biodiversity, and Lecturer Ahmed Mohammed Hasan Mustafa Mahmoud, a specialist in Wildlife Conservation.

Implemented through the Climate.KRD platform, this Kurdistan-wide project aims to collect, organize, and disseminate vital information regarding the region's rich biodiversity. To ensure the data is easily accessible to the general public, the initiative recently launched biodiversity.krd. This dedicated website serves as a comprehensive, trilingual database (Kurdish, English, and scientific terminology), featuring species definitions, geographic distributions, conservation statuses, photographic records, and academic sources for various plants and animals across the region.

During the meeting, attendees highlighted the project's three primary benefits:

- Data and Information Preservation: By centralizing and organizing biodiversity data, the platform provides an invaluable, easily accessible resource for environmental researchers and scientists.

- Raising Public Awareness: The user-friendly platform seeks to increase public knowledge and deepen the community's understanding of nature, pressing environmental issues, and the critical need to protect local ecosystems.

- Conservation Efforts: The database provides a solid scientific foundation for future conservation planning, aiding in the identification of highly significant species and the continuous monitoring of endangered wildlife.

In the second part of the meeting, Assistant Lecturer in Plant Taxonomy Ibrahim Ziyad Yousif participated, and plant specialists convened to discuss initiatives and obstacles to cataloging the Kurdistan Region's flora and fauna for a comprehensive national database. Leveraging global databases like Plants of the World Online (POWO), extensive scientific literature, and local digital archives such as Flora of Kurdistan, participants aimed to expand the current record of over 1,500 local plant species to encompass more of Iraq’s 3,300 known varieties.

The Erbil meeting concluded with productive outcomes, setting a clear path forward for the initiative. Participants successfully outlined the project's working methodology and emphasized the importance of making environmental data publicly accessible. Furthermore, the discussions helped clearly define the collaborative roles that the government, academic institutions like the University of Duhok, and independent researchers must play in preserving the region's biodiversity for generations to come.

CAES Information Services Office, September 24, 2026

Reported by: Bilnd Jalal H. Hambi & Sipal Mohammed Taher Yousif