Climate change displaces over 17,000 Iraqi families in five years

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - More than 17,000 families from seven Iraqi provinces have been displaced over the past five years due to climate change and worsening desertification, Rudaw has learned, with most coming from the southern provinces of Dhi Qar and Diwaniyah.

According to Iraq’s migration ministry, around 17,365 families have left their homes since 2021. Dhi Qar recorded 9,525 displaced families, followed by Diwaniyah with 2,823. Muthanna has seen 1,668 families displaced, Maysan 1,643, Basra 951, Najaf 742, and Wasit 13.

Zainab al-Asadi, chair of the Agriculture, Marshes and Water Resources Committee at Dhi Qar’s provincial council told Rudaw, “Most of the northern wetlands in our province have dried up. We tried to revive some through the Tigris River, but the rest of our dried marshes have no solution.”

She added, “Last year, our province suffered severe drought and the water level in the marshes fell to nearly half a meter. This year, that half-meter is expected to drop even further because much of the water simply evaporates.”

The official results of Iraq’s latest census, released last week, showed that Dhi Qar has a population of over 2.3 million.

Meanwhile, 96.5 million dunams (about 231.6 square kilometers) are at risk of desertification, while only 13.5 million dunams (about 32.4 square kilometers) remain suitable for agriculture. Ministry figures also show that just 1.4 percent of Iraq’s land is forested or green.

Luay al-Mukhtar, spokesperson for the environment ministry, told Rudaw on Wednesday, “All our domestic and international efforts aim to increase Iraq’s green cover and reclaim lands under threat of desertification.”

“Some lands are naturally arid, but others are agricultural areas that lost fertility due to water scarcity,” he said.
 
In a similar vein, Bassam Kanaan, Director General of the Directorate of Forests and Desertification - an affiliate of the agriculture ministry - told Rudaw, “So far, over 1.3 million seedlings have been planted under the national afforestation campaign.”

He added that these efforts are part of a broader initiative led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani “to plant more than 8 million trees.”

Kanaan further said that a joint committee from the agriculture, environment, and other ministries is assessing fully desertified lands as well as areas at risk.

“Once the committee finishes its work, the government will launch official, long-term mitigation measures and allocate the necessary budget,” he added.

For his part, Shukri al-Hassan, a prominent environmentalist and geography professor at the University of Basra, told Rudaw that “the causes of desertification include natural factors, such as rising temperatures, reduced rainfall, and declining surface and groundwater levels.”

He also pointed to human-made causes, including “poor farming practices, urban expansion, population growth, and overuse of natural resources.”

Hassan warned that “desertification is a major threat to any country facing it,” noting its potential negative impact on “national food security, and an increase in temperatures and the frequency of dust storms.”


Malik Abbasi contributed to this piece.