Implementation+of+the+United+Nations+Convention+to+Combat+Desertification+in+Those+Countries+Experiencing+Serious+Drought+and+or+Desertification,+particularly+in+Africa

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 * UNCCD**- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The problem of desertification is the most important problem besetting Iraq. It has several consequences:

i. loss of productive lands and their conversion to barren lands; ii. increase in the surface of sand dunes in addition to the their mounting negative effects; iii. diminishing forms of biota; iv. increase in air pollution and sand movement, and v. increasing pressure on groundwater.

In Iraq, desertified areas or areas subject to desertification are estimated to exceed 92% of total surface area. Desertification in Iraq can be classified into various categories according to its intensity and the areas affected by it.

CAUSES OF DESERTIFICATION IN IRAQ
i. The harshness of Iraqi's climate. It is equatorial and arid, characterized by hot summers, cold winters and low rainfall which reaches 40 millimetres in the centre, and south of Iraq and 1200 millimetres in mountain areas. Temperature varies form 51 celsius in the summer to 5 celsius in the winter. Relative humidity can be up to 5% on very dry days, causing an increase in evaporation that can exceed by twenty to forty times the annual rainfall in the southern plains and the desert hills;

ii. Increasing population pressures on biota; iii. Inappropriate land use practices due to mounting population pressures;

iv. Degradation of pastures; which constitute about 70-75% of Iraq's total area, resulting from the following factors:

- Overgrazing - Spontaneous grazing - Woodcutting and uprooting of shrubs. - Cultivation of crops in pasture areas, which degrades plant cover without ever attaining economic productivity. (A large, important variety of plants is thus adversely affected in the western desert, becoming subject to wind erosion);

v. Inappropriate use of water for irrigation purposes, causing the soil to be saturated with water; a high evaporation rate from the soil surface has also led to salt accumulation in the soil, thus increasing areas unsuitable for agriculture;

vi. A worsening of soil salinity due to an increase on ground water in agricultural lands as there are no drainage networks;

vii. Forest degradation resulting from excessive woodcutting, overgrazing and fires; which has all led to deteriorating plant cover in the forests of the north of Iraq. This has in turn increased water erosion causing the fertile layer of the soil to disappear. Furthermore, it has a negative impact on the stocking capacity of dams and the operational efficiency of irrigation works (be they reservoirs, dams or dykes) and increases maintenance costs.

viii. Fuel scarcity increasing need for firewood has led to an excessive cutting of trees and shrubs which were once used as green belts, both inside and outside of Iraqi cities. This has undoubtedly caused environmental degradation. []

Policy Statement
Iraq's Revolutionary Council has adopted long needed measures for the formulation of scientific programs and plans for optimal use of natural resources in Iraq. This is in response to the growing acuity of desertification as a problem. Its negative impact has become widely known as seen in the deterioration of plant cover and the erosion of soil in many parts of Iraq. Desertification also means the formation of sand dunes, whose negative consequences can be observed, and soil salinity. Therefore as a nation suffering the consequences of desertification Iraq transparently supports the aid to tits neighboring African Countries.

Operative Clauses
Calls upon all nation to aid all countries suffering the consequences of desertification by:

a)

b) Constructing small dams and reservoirs in valleys.