Executive Summary:
In addition to the many challenges facing Iraq now, desertification is yet another formidable challenge that needs immediate attention. The seemingly unstoppable desert expansion is creeping up and taking over the fertile lands in Iraq in unprecedented speed!
It is manifested in a dramatic shrinking of green cover and the losses of millions of trees and tens of thousands of hectares of cultivable land and diminishing agricultural production.
The historically abundant water resources are declining as a direct result of over control and the use of water resources by upstream countries.
The country’s recent history of wars, economic sanctions, occupation, terrorist attacks and the fragile security and political stability stipulated specific set of priorities to which Iraq’s financial and human resources have been allocated and utilized.
Unfortunately combating desertification was never a top priority in this country and as a result Iraq lacks the capacity to stop the encroachment of the desert to its fertile lands and cities.
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Combatting the expanding desert in Iraq
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