30 April 2003
Much of Iraq's Devastated Marshlands Can Be Restored, Scientists Say
("Eden Again" Project Outlines Action Plan) (1240)
By Ralph Dannheisser
Washington File Special Correspondent
Washington -- An international group of scientists intent on restoring
the southern Iraqi marshlands deliberately destroyed by Saddam Hussein
is ready to move its preliminary work into high gear, with indigenous
Iraqis to be brought into the rehabilitation effort.
The scientists determined to reverse the destruction, who serve on an
international technical advisory panel to the "Eden Again" Project
sponsored by the U.S.-based Iraq Foundation, outlined their
preliminary action plan for the massive project at a press briefing in
Washington April 29.
At issue is the fate of a huge area between the lower reaches of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers that once comprised the largest wetland
ecosystem in the Middle East and Western Eurasia, covering over 20,000
square kilometers of interconnected lakes, mudflats and other
wetlands.
Beyond its role as a key part of the international flyway of migratory
birds, home to endangered species and breeding ground for shrimp and
freshwater fish, the area -- regarded by some as the site of the
biblical Garden of Eden -- has been home for millennia to human
communities, now known as the Ma'dan, or Marsh Arabs. Most have been
forced to leave.
Decline has been rapid over the past 30 years: Some 90 percent of the
marshlands have been destroyed, first as a result of upstream damming
in Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq, then through extensive downstream
drainage projects, carried out by the Saddam Hussein regime, that have
dried up much of the formerly fertile area and left little but barren
wastelands.
Those drainage projects were undertaken after the end of the Gulf War
in 1991, in what was widely seen as an effort to ease military access
and permit greater political control of the indigenous Marsh Arabs,
and as outright punishment following an uprising by Shiite Muslims in
southern Iraq.
A recently released United Nations report points up the urgency of the
problem: fully one-third of the marshlands that remained in 2001 have
disappeared since then, and those that are left could vanish within
the next three to five years, according to the UN Environment Program.
The "Eden Again" Project advisory panel says that restoration of the
marshes could carry profound economic benefits for Iraq and the
region, aiding in the recovery of lucrative Gulf fisheries and
allowing renewed cultivation of rice and date palms -- once a key
agricultural export for the country.
Their central finding, contained in a report released at the briefing,
is that "restoration is both technically feasible and worthwhile." An
analysis of the Tigris and Euphrates flows available in Iraq indicates
that "although these flows have been substantially reduced,
restoration of at least significant parts of the marshland is
possible," through use of such relatively simple means as construction
of dikes and levees that will contain water within restricted,
desirable paths.
The group stresses that the effort can be most effective as part of an
integrated water management plan for the entire Tigris-Euphrates basin
"backed by international law through a (multinational) water agreement
as soon as social and political conditions allow."
It stresses the need for careful planning for the release of water,
noting that uncontrolled release over salty and contaminated soils
present in many parts of the area "could result in the spread of
contaminants that would further aggravate" the existing situation.
"Analysis of potential contaminants such as sewage outflow, industrial
waste, heavy metals, agrochemicals, munitions and minefields ... will
be required as a first phase in any restoration effort," they say.
Azzam Alwash, senior project advisor of Eden Again, stressed at the
briefing that those interested in restoration must act swiftly to head
off potentially counterproductive actions by returning former
inhabitants of the marshlands. "They are coming back," Alwash said,
and could act quickly to remove the dams and introduce water
haphazardly -- "exactly the wrong thing to do."
"That puts the time pressure on us to make sure the survey is done, we
identify the areas that should not be rehydrated. ... If we don't give
them their land back and their way of life back, they could very well
take things into their own hands" with great potential harm, he said.
Even as the scientists proceed on the technical track, those pushing
for the restoration must "get the stakeholders involved ... the local
people, the local government officials, the local scientists in the
University of Basra," said geologist Suzie Alwash, who serves as Eden
Again project director.
"If somebody from the United States planned to go in and just do
restoration, it's not going to last, it's not going to be meaningful,
it has to be what the people want or else it's meaningless work," she
said.
She observed that the Marsh Arabs who have inhabited the area for
millennia "see this place as a very strong cultural icon for
themselves," adding, "Just like the cultural artifacts in the museum
in Baghdad must be brought back, they want this to be brought back
also."
Suzie Alwash estimated that some 40,000 to 70,000 of the former
inhabitants now live in refugee camps in Iran, with another 5,000 in
Saudi Arabia, others in refugee camps in Australia or living in exile
in the San Diego, California area, and an unknown number who are
internally displaced in Iraq. Interviews with those in Iran indicate
that between one-third and one-half of them are "really dedicated to
go back to the marshes," she said.
Now that access to Iraq is possible, Alwash said, the Iraq Foundation
plans to move its headquarters to Baghdad, and members of the
international advisory panel "will be spending a lot of time" in the
country.
Asked about the likely cost of the restoration effort, Azzam Alwash
said his preliminary belief is that it will take "tens of millions (of
dollars), not hundreds of millions. We're not looking at very
difficult solutions. The water is available." And, he noted, "We're
talking about using local labor" rather than introducing expensive
machinery. A more accurate cost assessment should be available in
several months, he said.
The U.S. Department of State has provided some $190,000 for the work
of the international technical advisory panel, Alwash noted.
Edward Maltby, director of the Institute for Environmental Restoration
at Royal Holloway University of London, reinforced the view that local
stakeholders must play a central part in the planning effort,
declaring that "the key to unlocking the whole enterprise will come
from within."
Maltby said the Iraqi marshlands had suffered "the most rapid
degradation of any ecosystem anywhere in the world," causing loss of
irreplaceable genetic material, jeopardizing the populations of shrimp
and fin fish, and degrading water quality throughout the region.
He said he is confident that "some realistic and tangible improvement
can be seen within the first year of operation," building confidence
in the project and so setting the stage for further success.
The initial phase could be a test project involving some 200 to 400
hectares, according to Curtis Richardson, director of the Duke
University Center for Wetlands, who is also a member of the advisory
panel.
In the long run, Azzam Alwash estimated, an absolute minimum of 1,500
square miles of the huge area could be recovered.
(More information about the "Eden Again" Project is available at
www.iraqfoundation.org/projects/edenagain)
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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