Poets for the Planet’s event in support of environmental agencies in Gaza
As poets, and especially as ecopoets, we are eternally conscious of the centrality and wellbeing of the environment as the foundation for all existence.
The poetry of Palestinian Mahmoud Darwish – defined as ‘nature centred’ by Hamoud Yahya, in Eco Resistance in the Poetry of the Arab Poet Mahmoud – demonstrated this interconnectedness, and the fundamental importance of the land and what grows on it. His poem The Earth Is Closing On Us (which you can hear read aloud in translation on The American Scholar website) concludes with the line, ‘Here and here our blood will plant its olive tree.’
What has taken place recently in – and continues to impact – Gaza is both a humanitarian and an environmental crisis.
Wherever there is human conflict, habitats are victims: the planet might not take sides, but it’s always the loser. Damage to people and land is compounded by economic upheaval, undermining devastated areas’ ability to invest in reconstruction, restoration and renewal, and leaving them dependent on third parties to support recovery.
These effects linger long after war ceases: minefields across the world are just one reminder that ceasefires may bring peace, but rarely meaningful restoration. (Indeed, the problems continue: recent research shared by the Social Sciences Research Network suggests that ‘Rebuilding Gaza will entail a total emissions figure higher than the annual emissions of over 135 countries, putting on them par with that of Sweden and Portugal.’)
But environmentally and ecologically-focused charities are now acting to address this damage. Poets for the Planet are currently setting up an event to raise not just awareness of the underreported ecocide in Gaza, but to raise funds for PENGON (Palestine Environmental NGOs Network and a branch of Friends of the Earth).
The only network for Palestinian environmental organizations, PENGON is striving to make the land a habitable, sustainable environment. This includes projects in Gaza to supply solar power and secure a fresh water supply and, in the West Bank, to deal with pollution.
The intense Israeli response to the appalling October 2023 Hamas attack has devastated not just the people of Gaza, their families, homes and infrastructure, but also the land. While the conflict is widely covered mainstream reporting, albeit with restricted journalist access, its environmental impact is not. One exception was George Monbiot, writing in The Guardian in Sept 2025, and echoing Mahmoud Darwish:
‘Olives are both materially crucial, accounting for 14% of the Palestinian economy, and symbolically powerful: if there are no olive trees, there can be no olive branch.’
Prior to the latest conflict, 40% of Gaza was farmland: it produced much of its own food. In July 2025, a United Nations report showed that just 8.6 per cent of cropland in Gaza was still accessible, while only 1.5 per cent was both accessible and undamaged. Five months later, the situation has almost certainly become worse.
The impact extends far beyond agriculture. Hamza Hamouchene, a London-based Algerian researcher writing for The Transnational Institute, describes the destruction:
‘Gaza is strewn with more than 40 million tonnes of debris and hazardous material, much of it containing human remains.Meanwhile, Gaza’s seawater is choked with sewage and waste due to Israel’s cutting off of electricity to power, and its destruction of, treatment plants. By early 2024, a significant portion of Gaza’s farmland had already been decimated, with orchards, greenhouses, and vital crops wiped out by relentless bombardment. Olive groves and farms have been reduced to packed earth, and munitions and toxins contaminate soil and groundwater.’
Vennessa Farr, in a Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom blog post, comments:
‘Cumulatively, these forms of deliberate environmental violence are an assault on Palestine’s food systems and agricultural livelihoods. They steadily undermine farmers’ capacity to practise the ancient Ba’li soil and water conservation methods that, until now, supported the production of fresh fruits and vegetables in which Gaza had managed to remain sufficient before the current onslaught.’
More broadly, George Monbiot’s article in The Jewish Voice for Liberation, noting the exemption of the military from mandatory reporting under the Paris climate agreement, makes a larger point:
‘For many years, green campaigners have pointed out that peace and environmental protection must go together. War is as devastating to ecosystems as it is to people, and environmental breakdown is a major cause of war.’
Please help us as we help those who are working to ensure there will be olive trees – and olive branches – in the years ahead.
The event…
The intention is for the event to take place on a Saturday in March 2026. We’re exploring suitable, accessible central London venues and have an agreement in principle with one location, to be confirmed.
We’ve established a longlist of poets, including London-based Palestinian writers, to approach for an afternoon Poem-a-thon and early evening ‘headline’ reading. PENGON has an online page for direct donations, and we will generate additional revenue from ticket income (where additional donations will also be encouraged), linked from the P4TP website and social posts.
… and how you can help
Organising and delivering this event needs willing, resourceful volunteers. Please fill out this short form by 5 January to let us know if you can support with any of the following roles:
- Venue liaison (ideally someone London-based)
- Poet liaison
- Implementing and managing online ticketing and donations
- Timetabling the poem-a-thon
- Front of house/stewarding duties on the day
- Disseminating/sharing social media-ready materials to likely supporters
- Graphic design for web/print
All offers to support with organising the event will be gratefully received. We cannot proceed unless the necessary roles are covered. If you have any other questions, please email us at poetsfortheplanet@gmail.com with the subject line ‘Pengon Project’.
In peace
Anne Enith Cooper, Caroline Davies, Lucy Furlong, Sue Johns, Dave Wakely