BAGHDAD, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Iraq on Monday called for international help to rescue the lives in the marsh areas in the southeast of the country because of the fire caused by high temperature and drought.
According to a statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, the wildfire raging in the Hawizeh Marshes, a complex of marshes straddling Iraq's eastern border with Iran, spread further into the Iraqi side after dying out on the Iranian side.
"The recent fires have appeared in the densely reeded areas of the northern part of Hawizeh Marshes as a result of severe water scarcity and low water flows to the Iraqi marshes, which reached their lowest levels this year," the ministry said.
"The unprecedented high temperature contributed to the spread of the fires, and adversely affected the health status of the local population and biodiversity in the region, with significant air pollution caused by the rising smoke from these fires," it added.
During the past 20 days, wildfire has consumed more than 16,000 hectares of the Iraqi marshes, as well as some 2,000 hectares on the Iranian side, according to the statement.
The Iraqi ministry called on "international agencies and organizations to provide support and relief to the people of these areas, including drinking water, essential foodstuff and livestock feed to help them overcome the crisis."
During this summer, there has been little water flow in Hawizeh Marshes from its main tributaries Karkha River in Iran and Tigris River in Iraq, leading to sever shortage of water and the wide spread of dry reed.
The Hawizeh Marshes complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2016. The marsh complex is also part of the Ramsar Convention, or the Convention on Wetlands, an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
