Iraq risks losing 134 wildlife species to climate change and pollution

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – More than 130 wildlife and aquatic species in Iraq are endangered due to pollution, climate change, and habitat loss, according to a human rights organization, which warns that environmental degradation is affecting the country’s food security, rural livelihoods, and economy. According to the Strategic Center for Human Rights, 134 species are under increasing threat due to protracted drought, rising temperatures, desertification, falling water flows in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and unlawful poaching of rare and migratory animals. The goitered gazelle, mountain ibex, Iraqi wolf, striped hyena, sand fox, wildcat, and marsh otter are among the threatened animals, while the Asian houbara, northern bald ibis, white-headed duck, Egyptian vulture, and imperial eagle are among the endangered birds. The research also highlighted the mounting threats to native fish species, freshwater turtles, and millions of migrating birds that depend on Iraq’s southern wetlands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has suffered from years of drought and reduced river flows. Iraq is one of the most susceptible nations to climate change, with decreased rainfall, increasing temperatures, and diminished water supplies from the Tigris and Euphrates causing desertification and the loss of wetlands that sustain biodiversity and agriculture. According to the rights organization, biodiversity loss has gone beyond environmental concerns, presenting direct threats to food production, fisheries, cattle, and rural populations who rely on natural ecosystems for a living. The report urged authorities to step up enforcement against illegal hunting, extend protected areas, rebuild the country’s marshes, obtain bigger water transfers into rivers and wetlands, and develop a national program to safeguard endangered species before additional losses become irrevocable.