C"^ Central 

 Marsh 



jA/ Hammer 



of the Persian Gulf into a haven for oysters and rich coral 

 beds, on which the pearl divers of Kuwait made a living 

 before oil was discovered. And before 1990 — a turning 

 point in Saddam's tightening control over the waterways 

 of Iraq — more than half the fish consumed throughout the 

 country came from the three main marshes in Iraq: Ham- 

 mar, Central, and Hawizeh [see map below]. 



n 1991, when Saddam's forces were driven out of Kuwait, 

 many Iraqi civilians revolted against their government 

 but were defeated by the remnants of the Iraqi army 

 The rebels who could went into exile abroad, but the ones 

 who couldn't went into the marshes with the Ma'adan. 

 The watery world of the marshes provided food and easy 

 shelter, and the soggy ground 

 proved to be an insurmount- 

 able obstacle to the armored 

 vehicles of the Iraqi army. 



The marsh dwellers contin- 

 ued to harass the army units 

 until Saddam decided to take 

 drastic action against them. 

 And so began an incredible 

 engineering feat of destruction. 

 Hundreds of miles of canals 

 were dug to divert the waters of 

 the Tigris and Euphrates away 

 from the marshes, choking off 

 their source of life. Acres upon 

 acres of reeds were burned. 



In just five years, the 8,000 

 square miles of Iraqi marshes 

 were reduced to no more than 

 700 square miles along a sliver 

 of the border between Iraq and 

 Iran. Most of the rebels and 



the Ma'adan were forced to relocate to cities. There they 

 were at the mercy of Saddam's regime, which had absolute 

 power over rations and therefore over their survival. Yet the 

 marsh was losing its ability to sustain life. Fisheries suffered 

 as spawning grounds in the marshes dwindled; with the 

 loss of reeds to filter the water, more algal red tides swept 

 over the region, killing more wildlife; thousands of water 

 buffalo succumbed to pesticide poisoning, and the Ma'adan 

 sold many others before being relocated into settlements. 



Yet the devastation, as far-reaching as it was, has proved 

 to be reversible. 

 The few people who had stayed in the marshes began 

 breaching dams and tearing down embankments in late 

 March 2003 even before the fall of Baghdad. Thus began 

 the restoration of the marshes. In the past few years, the 

 wetlands have begun to flourish. Iraqis continue to breach 

 embankments: three breakthroughs on the Euphrates made 

 in March of this year will help restore flow to the Ham- 



40 



Izeh 

 Marsh 



IRAN 



IRAQ 



H Marsh Extent 2007 

 ■ Marsh Extent 2000 

 D Marsh Extent 1985 



mar Marsh. With foreign aid from around the world the 

 marshes continue to grow. 



Today, almost 3,000 square miles of the marshes are 

 flooded. Half of that reflooded area seems to be in robust 

 recovery; the other half still needs nursing. My colleagues 

 and I have found encouraging numbers of endangered 

 bird species — including Eurasian bittern, the Iraq babbler, 

 pygmy cormorant, sacred ibis, and whiskered tern. The 

 diversity of the wildlife improves daily. 



One major problem, however, precludes the possibility of 

 complete recovery: the loss of the seasonal freshwater pulses. 

 Dams built in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq have, unfortunately, 

 evened out the flow. Turkey began building its dams in 

 the mountains of Kurdistan at the same time as the water 



was being diverted to dry the 

 marshes. The so-called South- 

 eastern Anatolia Project, which 

 N is nearly finished, will comprise 



more than twenty-two dams and 

 nineteen hydroelectric plants. 

 The dams, albeit beneficial to 

 the economy of Turkey, stopped 

 the freshwater pulses that drove 

 the marshes' biodiversity. 



If the flow continues at its cur- 

 rent, sluggish rate, some species 

 that depend on the annual flush- 

 ing — particularly fishes — may 

 not survive. Engineers working 

 on the marsh restoration have 

 devised a plan to replicate the 

 pulses. The plan would direct 

 water from the dam reservoirs 

 into the marshes during late 

 winter, when agricultural de- 

 mand is minimized. The water 

 would be held in the marshes into the spring season, 

 regulated at the exit points and entrances to the marshes. 

 Granted, such a scheme cannot truly replace the natural 

 system, but the health of the marshes requires some kind 

 of management, given that the dams upstream are likely 

 to be in place for decades if not centuries to come. 



The ultimate solution, of course, requires cooperation 

 with upstream countries to coordinate seasonal releases of 

 water for the benefit of the marshes. Some people, myself 

 included, are hopeful. After all, five years ago most people 

 shook their heads skeptically when they heard about the 

 restoration of the Iraqi marshes; yet substantial progress has 

 already been made. 



The marshes are important not only for the health 

 of the Gulf region, but also for their heritage as a rich 

 cradle for both civilized and natural life. If more peo- 

 ple and more countries step up to help Iraq, this rare 

 ecosystem can be maintained for global benefit. All 

 that is needed is political will. □ 



KUWAIT 



PERSIAN 

 GULF 



58 



natural history November 2007 



