Iraq’s Southern Marshes Something special to be conserved : a case study

Abstract EN

Iraqi southern marshes form a large triangular region bounded by three major southern cities: Nasiriyah to the west, Amarah to the northeast, and Basrah to the south.

Their vast area covers 20,000 square kilometers of open water, and includes both permanent and seasonal marshes.

Three major areas are the Al-Hammar, the Central.

and the Al-Hawizeh Marshes form the core of the marsh land of southern Iraq.

It is centered on the meeting of the great Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Such specific wetlands of the southern part of Iraq play a vital role in the maintenance of biodiversity in the Middle East, primarily because of their large size, the richness of their aquatic vegetation and their isolation from other comparable systems. Aims of this literature review may include addressing certain key issues, such as definition and description of the general conditions of the Iraq’s southern marshes, and why should the marshes be protected? Another issue, we introduced the “Healthy Marshes Concept”, to be adopted for sustaining life and to control pollution in the marshes following the full scale restoration.

Another part of this study is devoted for the discussion of how can marsh conditions be studied and monitored on a continuous way to achieve the “healthy marshes concept” issue.

On the other hand, the study provides information and Internet links to the international institutions and political programs willing to participate or to address the global concern about the restoration of the Iraqi southern wetlands following the disastrous devastation of its unique ecosystem during the 1990’s period.

Finally, the literature citation, and the extensive lists of species should provide vital references for any research or a study to be conducted on wetlands, both locally or on a global scale.

The “Southern Marsh Project” issue is the advice to take home from this study.

It represents a call for a systematic, long term research program of monitoring all the aspects and conditions of the Iraqi Southern marshes, and probably the neighboring Countries.

The program is a comprehensive, multi-vision project aims for careful restoration of the marshes after its disastrous devastation.