The cool waters of Lake Arjan in southern Iran were once a haven for migrating birds, wild animals and diverse plant life.
Now, the sun beats relentlessly on the dried and cracked lakebed and nomads, who could once depend on pastures farther afield, have brought their goats and sheep to forage for the last scraps of greenery.
"There is agricultural water here for our livestock, but we have sold a lot," Mohsen Rostami, a member of the Qashqai tribe, said as he stood next to his tents in the middle of the scorched landscape.
After three years of extreme drought, which the United Nations has said is the most severe in Iran in 30 years, most of the country's wetlands have dried out and many farmers are struggling to survive.
Iran's nomads have been badly hit. Lands that once supported their livestock no longer have sufficient vegetation.
"They have sold around 80 per cent of their livestock," said Mohammed Aqa-Rezaei, an expert at the Environment Protection Organization. "There is not enough fodder to go around."
About 800,000 head of livestock died last year. Officials have said millions of sheep, goats, cattle and even traditionally resilient camels are threatened this year.
Iran's natural biodiversity is shrivelling under the heat.
"The effect of the drought on the area's flora and fauna has been devastating," said Alamdar Alamdari, a senior environment researcher in Fars province, where Lake Arjan is located.
"More than 90 per cent of our wetlands have completely dried up," he said, adding that alongside natural vegetation, animals such as wild cats, foxes and mountain goats are suffering.
Almost all of Iran's 28 provinces have suffered sharp drops in rainfall for the third consecutive year. In Sistan-Baluchestan, in the southeast, there has been 78 per cent less rain than last year's total, which was already low.
In Fars, rainfall has been 47 per cent less than last year. Only one freshwater lake in the province has survived the drought, but water levels in Lake Parishan are also retreating.
"This year we did not even have 50,000 birds," Mr. Alamdari said. "This is down from up to a million birds from 160 species who nest here in normal years."
Lake Hamoon, on Iran's border with Afghanistan, was a vital water source for local herders and a dynamic ecosystem, despite its parched desert surroundings.
Now, the lakebed is a short cut for smugglers, in a region where the trafficking of drugs and other contraband is rife.
Irrigation channels that once transferred water to farms have run dry and villagers, who have not yet abandoned their dwellings, face a daily routine of fetching drinking water from far-off wells.
A UN report said many villagers in drought-hit areas have given up their homes and headed to towns where water is available.
Lake Bakhtegan, which once covered more than 150,000 hectares, was a major source of humidity and an important barrier against the desertification of Fars, Mr. Alamdari said.
"The threat of desert encroachment from the east will be serious if Bakhtegan remains dry," he said.
The UN report, published last month, said damage to agriculture and livestock is estimated at $2.6-billion (U.S.) this year, up from $1.7-billion in 2000.
"Some seven million hectares of farmlands and 1.2 million hectares of orchards have been affected," said Abbas Jazayeri, head of the disaster task force at the Interior Ministry.
Farmers are expecting reductions of 35 to 75 per cent in wheat and barley produce. Last year Iran imported a record seven million tonnes of wheat, partly because of reduced domestic production due to the drought.
"There has been no rain," said one farmer near the southern city of Shiraz, as he laboured to separate grain from chaff from a sharply reduced harvest.
Drinking water has been rationed in more than 30 major towns and cities. The capital, Tehran, with a population of 10 million, has been divided into six districts, each of which face a 12-hour water cut once a week.
The UN report called for international donors to provide about 12,000 mobile water tankers.