The impact of war on forest logging: Changes in logging practices in Syrian rural communities

Syria has been struggling with a prolonged and brutal war for over a decade, leaving much of the country in devastation and its forests severely degraded. While many studies have identified logging for firewood as a significant driver of deforestation during the war, there is a notable absence of research specifically addressing logging behavior within the context of war. This research seeks to address this gap by examining the changes in logging behavior among local communities, the effects of violence and socioeconomic variables on wood harvesting, the contribution of wood income to people's survival during the war. To do that, we conducted survey questionnaires in two coastal villages in Syria—Blouta and Nehel al Annaze—which experienced high and low levels of violence, respectively. Our findings reveal that logging activities increased once the war began, with more people involved in forest harvesting and average days spent logging per week significantly increasing from 1.5 to 4. Additionally, the war appeared to reduce the gender disparity in logging activities: before the conflict, women engaged in logging significantly more frequently than men, but this difference became insignificant during the war. The level of violence alone did not significantly affect the amount of wood logged per month. Furthermore, income generated from wood harvesting played a substantial role in bridging the gap between the monthly income needed to cover their basic necessities and the actual income of families in both villages by 46.94 % and 84.83 % of the gap in Nehel al Annaze and Blouta, respectively. These results highlight the crucial role of forest resources in supporting rural livelihoods during times of war. Post-war effective forest management will be vital to ensure the sustainable use and recovery of forest resources, supporting both ecological restoration and economic stability for the rural communities.