There are some seasonal wetlands at the western terminus of the Helmand River into Hamun Lake.

The Helmand River flows through the desert from the northeast (at Kandahar) to the southwest, where it empties into the endorheic (no outlet to the sea) Hamun Lake.

Across the middle run the granite Chagai Hills along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

[5][6] The basin is one of the driest regions on earth; 95% of the territory is bare or sparse vegetation.

But the only endemic species are a small number of reptiles: the Afghan toadhead agama (Phrynocephalus clarkorum), Missone's gecko (Rhinogekko misonnei), the Point-snouted racerunner (Eremias acutirostris) (a lizard), and the Dark head dwarf-racer (Eirenis mcmahoni).