Major Milestone in Clay Layering Project to Combat Sandstorms

Iraqi authorities, in conjunction with UN Habitat and the Kuwaiti Arab Economic Development Fund , have made significant progress on a project that seeks to mitigate the devastating effects of sand storms in the region.

The project, which began in 2023, involves the spreading of a thin layer of moist, natural clay to stabilise soil and sand dunes in Southern Iraq. The application of this layer, around 25-30 cm thick, increases the weight of the dunes, subsequently reducing wind stripping and sand movement. Officials have described the process as “sustainable, safe and effective” and announced last week that an area of roughly 82,000 meters squared has now been covered.

Similar projects have been implemented in Iraq from the 1970s onwards, with clay layering carried out in the 1990s retaining its effectiveness for over 30 years.

While sandstorms have remained a constant issue in Iraq, their frequency and severity has increased significantly in recent years due to droughts and rising temperatures. According to Iraq’s Ministry of Environment, the country is currently experiencing around 243 such storms annually and projections by the United Nations Environmental Programme suggest that there will be “300 dusty days per year by 2050”, without significant preventative action.

These storms have significant implications for Iraqi economic and societal stability. Last year, the Green Iraq Observatory estimated that the Iraqi economy was incurring daily financial losses of around $1 million as a result of sandstorms, highlighting their growing impact on agriculture and infrastructure.

The impact of sandstorms on Iraqi public health also cannot be understated. A particularly severe storm in April of last year, for example, left around 1,800 people with respiratory issues across central and southern Iraq.

As Iraq confronts a future of intensifying heat and longer droughts, the importance of initiatives such as this are becoming increasingly apparent. Whether these efforts can be scaled up quickly enough to outpace a changing climate remains uncertain, but for now, they remain a necessary step toward securing Iraq’s environmental future.

Source: UN-Habitat Iraq