Aden’s most beautiful nature reserve turns into waste dump

Yemen’s civil war has turned a nature reserve in the southern port city of Aden, once awarded a UN prize, into a rubbish dump. The ticket office has been abandoned at the entrance to Al-Hiswa, a nature reserve, where trees have been cut down and construction waste dumped.

Aden resident Yassin Moqbel said the 19-hectare site used to be a recreational outlet for residents and tourists but now it has become a rubbish dump, full of sewage.

Environmental expert Dr. Abdullah Al-Hindi warned of pollution and environmental disaster in the reserve as a nearby wastewater treatment plant stopped working, sending wastewater to the reserve.

The reserve was one of 35 initiatives awarded the UN’s Equator Prize in 2014 for meeting climate and development challenges through sustainable use of nature.