UNEP releases new findings
showing rapid revival of Garden of Eden but
stresses need for long-term investment in
marshlands
24/08/2005 – After a decade of decline in
which the fabled Marshlands of Mesopotamia
all but vanished almost 40 per cent have now
recovered to their former 1970s extent.
This phenomenal rate of recovery of the marshlands
in southern Iraq, considered by some as the
original biblical “Garden of Eden” and a key
natural habitat for people, wildlife and fisheries,
is revealed in new satellite images and preliminary
analysis from the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).
The new satellite imagery shows a rapid increase
in water and vegetation cover over the last
two years, and while more detailed field analysis
of soil and water quality is needed to gauge
the exact state of rehabilitation, UNEP scientists
believe the findings are a positive signal
that the Iraqi marshlands are well on the
road to recovery.
“The near total destruction of the Iraqi
marshlands under the regime of Saddam Hussein
was a major ecological and human disaster,
robbing the Marsh Arabs of a centuries-old
culture and way of life as well as food in
the form of fish and that most crucial of
natural resources, drinking water," said
Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive Director. “The
evidence of their rapid revival is a positive
signal, not only for the environment and the
local communities who live there, but must
be seen as a contribution to wider peace and
security for the Iraqi people and the region
as a whole.”
Toepfer continued, “While the re-flooding
bodes well for the Iraqi marshes their recovery
will take many years. We must continue to
monitor the situation carefully and make the
necessary long term investment in marshlands
management.”
"Furthermore, I hope the lessons learnt
to date in restoring this vital ecosystem
and its economically important natural services
can help in the restoration of other damaged
and degraded ecosystems elsewhere and in doing
so assist in meeting the Millennium Development
Goals whose status will be reviewed by heads
of state in New York in mid-September,” he
said.
The new findings on the growing extent of
the marshes come from the recently launched
Iraqi Marshlands Observation System (IMOS),
the latest component of UNEP’s multi-million
dollar marshlands project.
The project, launched a year ago with funding
from the Government of Japan, is helping Iraq
restore the environment and provide clean
drinking water for up to 100,000 people living
in or near the Marshlands.
It is achieving this via a variety of activities
ranging from the dissemination of appropriate
“environmentally sound technologies” (ESTs)
to the establishment of an internet-based
marshlands information network and technical
training (see below).
“The IMOS work is a key component in UNEP’s
marshlands project as it monitors the extent
and distribution of re-flooding developments
and the associated vegetation cover,” said
Monique Barbut, Director of UNEP’s Division
of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE).
“The systematic monitoring and bi-weekly reports
are building an important knowledge base for
Iraq. Such information is essential for reliable
decision-making in all aspects of marshlands
management,” she said.
Totalling almost 9,000 square kilometres
of permanent wetlands, the Iraqi marshlands
dwindled to just 1000 square kilometres in
2002. As of August 2005, IMOS shows them covering
almost 3,500 square kilometres, approximately
37 per cent of the former 1970s extent. In
spring 2005 the figure was nearer to 50 per
cent, shrinking with the high summer evaporation
rates.
The different figures reflect the strong
seasonal fluctuation in the marshlands ecosystem
with extent of water cover reaching a maximum
in March, following winter rains and spring
snow melt in the headwaters of the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers.
The new data on the extent of recovery of
the marshes was announced today at an international
meeting on the UNEP marshlands project in
Tokyo, which included representatives of the
governments of Iraq and Japan as well as senior
officials from the UN, scientists, and local
community leaders from the marshlands themselves.
Working in close collaboration with the Government
of Iraq and local people, the UNEP marshlands
project is carrying out a wide range of activities.
At six pilot project sites in Thi-Qar, Basrah,
and Missan governorates, different ESTs are
being tested to see how they perform in bringing
drinking water, sanitation systems and wetland
management skills to local people and communities.
The “low tech” less polluting ESTs include
restoration of reed beds and others marshland
habitats that act as natural, water-filtration
systems.
A Marshland Information Network, an Internet-based
system that lets those with an interest in
the region share their ideas and strategies,
is up and running. An Arabic version of UNEP’s
Environmentally Sound Technology Information
System, which serves as the basis for MIN
is operational in Iraq and in use by the Environment
Ministry.
The project is also helping to train the
Iraqi authorities, both at national government
and local levels. About 250 Iraqis have been
trained in wetland management and restoration,
remote sensing and community-based resource
management.
The UNEP project, “Support for Environmental
Management of the Iraqi Marshlands”, is implemented
through DTIE’s office in Japan, the International
Environmental Technology Centre (IETC). The
IMOS component has been designed and implemented
by UNEP's Post Conflict Assessment Unit (PCAU)
in collaboration with the Division of Early
Warning and Assessment/GRID-Europe.
NOTE. More information about the UNEP Marshlands
project including copies of latest satellite
imagery and photographs is available at:http://marshlands.unep.or.jp/
A Video News Release is available. Please
contact TVE Japan on +81 3 3353 7531 or TVE
International (London) on Tel + 44 (0)20 7901
8855
The IMOS is accessible at: http://imos.grid.unep.ch/.
For archive images/maps go to: http://www.grid.unep.ch/activities/sustainable/tigris/index.php.
Also see www.unep.org
For more information contact: Robert Bisset,
UNEP Press Officer (in Japan until 26/8) on
tel: +81(0)90-9879-7792 or after on +33(0)6
22725842, email: robert.bisset@unep.fr
In Nairobi, contact: Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson,
Office of the Executive Director, on Tel:
+254 20 62 3084; Mobile: +254 733 632 755,
email: nick.nuttall@unep.org
If there is no prompt response, contact Elisabeth
Waechter, UNEP Associate Media Officer, on
+254 20623088, Mob: +254 720173968, email:
elisabeth.waechter@unep.org
Note to Editors
The Iraqi Marshlands are one of the world’s
largest wetland ecosystems. By the time the
former Iraqi regime collapsed in 2003, these
Marshlands – with their rich biodiversity
and unique cultural heritage – had been almost
completely destroyed.
In 2001, UNEP alerted the world to their plight
when it released satellite images showing
that 90 per cent of these fabled wetlands,
home to rare and unique species like the Sacred
Ibis, and a spawning ground for Gulf fisheries,
had been lost.
In early 2003, UNEP revealed that the situation
was getting worse. Experts feared that the
entire wetlands, home to a 5,000 year-old
civilisation who are the heirs of the Babylonians
and Sumerians, would disappear entirely unless
urgent action was taken.
With the collapse of the former Iraqi regime
in mid-2003, local residents began opening
floodgates and breaching embankments in order
to bring water back into the marshlands.
