Iraq's Mesopotamian Marshes, home to the Marsh Arab culture, are drying up due to drought, decimating herds of water buffaloes and threatening the livelihoods of the Ma'adan people. The United Nations has described the situation as "alarming", with 70% of the marshes devoid of water. The marshlands have shrunk from 20,000 to 4,000 square kilometres due to dams upstream in Turkey and Syria and the effects of climate change. Both the marshes and the Ma'adan culture have UNESCO world heritage status. Iraq's water management and pollution are exacerbating the crisis, with heavy metals causing illness and fish dying.

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