IRAQ. Iraq’s southern marshlands are the largest wetland habitat in the Middle East, but years of damming, drainage, and pollution have rendered the area inadequate for the survival of the area’s plants, animals, and humans.

Untold numbers of people, many of whom living in extreme poverty, have been displaced by the drying marshlands. After initial improvements after the expulsion of Saddam Husein’s regime, water levels have shrunk down to below 2003 levels due to drought, causing many who returned to the area to leave.

“Billions of dollars are needed to implement projects to maintain livelihoods for the inhabitants [of the marshlands]. Also needed is cooperation by both Turkey and Iran to release water to Iraq,” said Hamid al-Dhalimi of the Basra Provincial Council’s Marshlands Committee.

“Low water levels mean high levels of salinity and this affects papyrus, reeds, fish, birds and cattle which are essential for the inhabitants’ lives.”

The United Nations Environment Programme and the UN/World Bank Needs Assessment Initiative for the Reconstruction of Iraq both classify the marshland’s condition as a major disaster.

The government has spent US$50 million a year since 2006 to help revive the area, but community leaders are calling for much more. Much of the funding is in the form of direct aid to residents in the area, but a portion is dedicated towards jump-starting sustainable farming practices in the area to limit the pesticide run-off into the waters.

But some believe the solution to the current drought lies in what caused many of the marshland’s problems: a dam.

“There’s already a dike downriver from here. If the government dams the river at that point, it would back water up into the marshes, not as much as we’d like, but enough to keep parts of the marshes alive,” said Sheik Abul Abbas, a fisherman.

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