Climate activists stage protest with camels in Hungary

A group of farmers, scientists, and environmentalists marched through the streets of Budapest with camels, raising voices over the alarming desertification and urging the government to take action.

For years, Hungary has been reeling with the adverse effects of climate change driven by anthropogenic activities, including prolonged drought, intense heatwave, and erratic precipitation patterns.

Eventually, it has become one of the most vulnerable countries to drought in the European Union.

Moreover, the experts also warn that two main rivers, the Tisza and Danube, in the southern region are rapidly turning into a desert due to extreme dry conditions, impacting the agricultural economy.

“The link between camels and the deserts is obvious. That is why we thought of this idea to use camels to highlight desertification of the country,” said protest organizer Laszlo Kulcsar.

Framer Peter Balogh said: “Right now rivers are constrained between dams, we have strict flood protection, we are protecting ourselves from floods, but instead of that, we should be managing floods.”

According to the farm ministry, in 2022, Hungary was hit by record-breaking drought, causing 1000 billion forints of losses for the agriculture sectors.

The recent data from the European Drought Observatory reported 63 percent of Hungary’s land suffered due to extreme drought between July 11 and 19.

The protestors have urged the government to secure the areas for water retention and promote the sustainable use of land.