Shafaq News – Baghdad

Iraq and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), on Monday, convened a joint workshop to advance work on a national framework designed to enhance biodiversity protection and address degraded ecosystems, the Ministry of Environment stated.

Jassim Al-Hajjami, Director General of the Environment Protection and Improvement Department in the Middle Euphrates, told Shafaq News that the initiative seeks to introduce the Integrated Conservation Management Framework (ICMF) as a unified approach to nature conservation, bringing together environmental protection, land restoration, and climate resilience under a single national policy framework.

“Drought has caused a significant decline in water bodies,” he explained, noting the drying of key lakes such as Lake Saweh and the reduction of Lake Razzaza’s area from approximately 1,800 square kilometers to less than 100 square kilometers.

Speaking to Shafaq News, Marak Al-Jubouri, the regional coordinator for environmental governance programs at the United Nations Environment Programme, said that addressing Iraq’s pressing climate and environmental challenges with practical solutions “could deliver significant economic and social benefits while restoring and improving the country’s environmental conditions.” 

Ranked 109th globally and fifth among Arab nations in the 2024 Agriculture Index according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Iraq is enduring its harshest water year in decades. Earlier in September, the Ministry of Water Resources cited reduced rainfall and declining inflows from upstream countries. The shortage has already forced authorities to scale back cultivation plans, while fertilizer deliveries are often delayed and outdated farming methods continue to limit yields, pushing the agricultural sector into crisis. 

Read more: Iraq’s water crisis deepens: Reserves collapse, mismanagement continues