ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq has lost 95 percent of the fish in its marshes and nearly 30 percent of its buffalos due to climate change, the head of an environmental non-governmental organization said on Thursday.
“Nearly 30 percent of our buffalos in the wetlands are lost, and 95 percent of the fish in those areas have disappeared. Sometimes, buffalo shepherds are forced to migrate five times a year within their own wetlands,” Jassim al-Asadi, the head of Nature Iraq, said at Erbil Forum 2025.
Some buffalo farmers are moving north to the cities of Kut, Karbala, Babil, and Najaf, he said.
Iraq, which regularly suffers from water shortages, has seen less rainfall this winter compared to the same period last year, the Ministry of Agriculture announced in late January.
“We still are not in a drought period. We are in a poor period, but we are just a step before going into a drought period," said Torhan al-Mufti, an advisor to the Iraqi prime minister on water. “If we have a good season, it means we will need 90 billion cubic meters per year. In a poor season or drought, we will need 50 billion.”
Zaki Shubber, a lawyer and international expert in freshwater law and conflict resolution, said that most of the products we use are closely tied to water resources and noted the importance of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the risk of their decline due to climate challenges.
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are key water sources for Iraq. About 75 percent of Iraq’s water comes from neighboring Iran and Turkey, and 20 to 25 percent is from internal sources. Both neighboring countries have built numerous dams on these shared rivers. Iraq does not have a comprehensive water-sharing agreement with either country.
Water scarcity is a critical issue in Iraq, threatening all aspects of society. According to the United Nations Global Environment Outlook 6, Iraq is the fifth most vulnerable country globally to reduced water availability and extreme temperatures, based on data from 2020–2021.
