The Department of Ecology at the College of Science at the University of Basra organized the Ninth National Conference on Environment and Natural Resources for two days, March 8-9, 2023.

The conference was opened in the presence of the President of the University of Basra, Dr. Saad Shaheen, the Dean of the College of Science, the Director of the Environment Directorate, the Director of the Agriculture Directorate, a representative of the South Gas Company, and the representatives of Basra Governorate, Dr. Dhurgham Al-Ajwadi and Mr. Hassan Al-Najjar and a number of specialists and researchers from Iraqi universities and colleges at the University of Basra.

The conference aims to discuss climate changes, pollution, biodiversity, desertification, greening, water and natural resources.

The conference included the participation of 100 researchers from inside and outside Iraq, including the countries of Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, in various environmental disciplines, including agriculture, sustainable environment, biology, health and society.

The conference recommended obliging oil companies to extract and invest in associated gas, develop research plans to solve environmental problems, afforestation in the provinces, mitigate the effects of climate change, prevent overgrazing, revitalize deteriorating palm groves, plant mangroves and other salt-tolerant trees, legislate a law to prevent random uprooting of trees, and activate the Iraqi environment protection and improvement law. To establish seawater desalination plants for the purpose of securing water.