With its Mediterranean climate Syria is a natural home to the olive tree (read about the history of the olive tree here). It is ranked 5th in the world in production of olive oil, behind Spain, Italy, Greece and Tunisia, with a share of 4.6% of world production.
This makes the olive sector one of the most important areas of agricultural production in Syria. Average annual production of olive fruits is around 880 tons of which 15 – 18 per cent is used for table olives and pickling; the rest is used to extract oil. This gives approximately 175 thousand tons of olive oil each year.
The environmental damage caused by olive oil production has been known since antiquity when the Roman author Varro observed that where water flowed from the olive oil presses to the ground the earth became barren. This is one historical legacy that Syria is working to eliminate.
Global warming and climate change, which we know is
Ever since American talk show host Oprah Winfrey announced that her website 
Syria has not had an environmental ministry for over five years; and the new one, to be headed by a woman, Kawkab al-Sabah Mohammad Jamil Dayeh, will have the assistance of the President himself who has become more interested in the state of his country’s environment.