Iraq is facing an environmental catastrophe as extreme drought and climate change have devastated its already sparse vegetation, with an environmental group warning that the country has lost one million trees in just the past two years.

The non-governmental organization Green Vision Iraq issued the stark warning on Saturday, detailing a crisis driven by severe drought conditions affecting most provinces. The group stated that many trees have succumbed to disease after drying out from a critical lack of water.

"Green spaces that serve as the lungs of cities have dried up, become polluted, and died," the organization said in a statement.

The crisis is not solely a natural disaster. Green Vision also blamed damaging human activity, reporting that some trees, particularly mulberry trees in Diyala province, were deliberately cut down and sold to fish smoking shops, where their wood is prized for flavoring.

The scale of the problem is underscored by Iraq's extremely low level of green space. According to the Numbeo Quality of Life Index, Iraq has just 0.2 dunams of green space per person, a figure drastically below the global average of 12 dunams. The index estimates that each Iraqi citizen needs 75 trees for an adequate oxygen supply.

The economic toll is immense. The environmental group noted that climate change inflicts daily economic losses of approximately $1 million on Iraq, with the health sector bearing the brunt through the high costs of treating respiratory illnesses exacerbated by dust and pollution.

The situation has alarmed Iraqi officials. The parliament’s agriculture, water, and marshes committee has warned that desertification now affects more than 20 areas across the nation. The committee has called for a comprehensive national strategy to combat what it described as a "dangerous" environmental phenomenon.

The water crisis, a key driver of the vegetation loss, has been severely worsened by reduced flow in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Water levels have dropped by 30 to 40 percent compared to historical averages, largely due to upstream dam construction by neighboring Turkey and Iran.

Water Resources Minister Aoun Diab has described the coming year with grave concern, labeling 2025 as "one of the hardest years Iraq will face in terms of water." National water reserves have plummeted to less than 8 billion cubic meters—the lowest level in decades.