Urgent action needed as Iraq’s marshlands dry up

Shafaq News/ On Thursday, an environmental organization, issued an urgent plea to relevant authorities and international organizations to take immediate measures to rescue Iraq’s marshlands, which are suffering from severe drought and water scarcity.

In a statement, the Green Iraq Observatory highlighted the critical state of the marshes, quoting environmental expert Ahmed Saleh Naama, who warned, “The marshes are drying up and suffering from an acute water shortage. Current government measures are inadequate to resolve this escalating crisis.”

“The crisis is particularly acute in the marshlands of Maysan and Basra provinces, while the area of marshes in Dhi Qar has been reduced by half.”

The observatory further reported that the drought is decimating aquatic life, including fish populations, and causing migratory birds to abandon the region, which historically served as a crucial wintering ground.

“The marshlands, once covering 15,000 to 20,000 square kilometers, have now shrunk to less than 2,000 square kilometers,” the observatory noted. It further explained that iconic regions such as the Central Marshes, as well as the Hammar and Hawizeh Marshes, have largely transformed into barren lands, forcing the majority of their inhabitants to migrate.

The drying of the marshlands has been exacerbated by declining water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, attributed to dam construction in neighboring Syria, Turkiye, and Iran, as well as the effects of climate change.

“The drying operations coincide with rising temperatures,” the observatory explained, noting that the average temperature rose from 23.9°C (75°F) in the preceding decades to 25.17°C (77.3°F) in the 1990s, intensifying the challenges faced by the region.