Lake Urmia (LU) is one of the important wetlands located in North-Western Iran; a vast hypersaline wetland and at the same time a National Park, a collection of Ramsar Sites, UNESCO

Biosphere Reserve and the largest inland lake in Iran. The lake and its’ islands host populations of

IUCN red listed endangered species including Persian Fallow Deer and Mouflon and a number of

other biodiversity species including 115 birds as well as 120 plant species.

The lake has also a very important function, in granting local communities’ livelihoods living in

the surrounding areas. With more than 5 million inhabitants living in its basin, threats of a drying

lake will have put at an existential risk to their daily livelihoods.