Mass die-offs hit Basra marshes amid rising salinity

Shafaq News – Basra

Dozens of animals and amphibians have died in Iraq’s southern marshlands due to a surge in water salinity, local officials said on Wednesday, warning of an escalating environmental disaster in Basra’s al-Hartha district.

Speaking to Shafaq News, al-Hartha District Administrator Nadhir al-Shawi confirmed that al-Mashhab marshes—the largest in Basra and the last remaining within its borders—are experiencing mass die-offs due to salt-contaminated water.

“Previously nourished by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, the marshes now depend on water from the Shatt al-Arab, where salinity levels have sharply increased,” al-Shawi said. “This shift in water sources has had a severe ecological impact. Over the past 24 hours alone, dozens of animals and amphibious species have perished, despite efforts to deliver potable water through tankers.”

He added that the damage extends beyond wildlife, affecting farmlands and palm groves now under direct threat from advancing salinity.

Murtada al-Janoubi, an ecologist from neighboring Maysan, warned that the Hawizeh Marshes are also facing collapse, with more than 15 villages and key water channels having dried up, resulting in mass buffalo deaths.

Southern Iraq’s rural communities are increasingly witnessing demographic shifts and displacement due to intensifying drought. The crisis has depleted livestock and fish stocks, eroded soil quality, and disrupted food security and rural ecological balance.