Central Marshes (Iraq)
Encyclopedia
The Draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes
occurred in Iraq
and to a smaller degree in Iran
between the 1950s and 1990s to clear large areas of the marshes in the Tigris-Euphrates river system
. Formerly covering an area of around 20000 square kilometre, the large complex of wetlands was 90% drained prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
. The marshes are typically divided into three main sub-marshes, the Hawizeh, Central
, and Hammar Marshes
and all three were drained at different times for different reasons. Initial draining of the Central Marshes was intended to reclaim land for agriculture but later all three marshes would become a tool of war and revenge.
Many international organizations such as the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the International Wildfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, and Middle East Watch have described the draining as a political attempt to force the Ma'dan people out of the area through water diversion tactics.
, as in past centuries they had been a refuge for escaped slaves
and serfs
, such as during the Zanj Rebellion
. The area was formerly populated by the Marsh Arabs
or Ma'dan, who grazed buffalo on the natural vegetation and carried out cultivation of rice. By the mid 1980s, a low-level insurgency
against Ba'athist drainage and resettlement projects had developed in the area, led by Sheik Abdul Kerim Mahud al-Muhammadawi of the Al bu Muhammad under the nom de guerre Abu Hatim.
The British were the first to drain Iraq's marshes which had no apparent economic value and bred mosquitoes. Prepared in 1951, The Haigh Report outlined a series of sluices, embankments and canals on the lower ends of the Tigris and Euphrates that would drain water for agriculture. In 1952, the Third River (a large canal) commenced that would drain part of the Central Marshes but it was not complete until 1992 as well as the Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station
which was not completed until 2009. During the 1970s, the expansion of irrigation
projects had begun to disrupt the flow of water to the marshes. By the early 1980s, it was evident that irrigation projects were already affecting water levels in the marshes. Part of the Hammar Marsh was also drained in 1985 to clear area for oil exploration
.
. This was done primarily to eliminate the food source(s) of the Marsh Arabs and to prevent any remaining militiamen from taking refuge in the marshes, the Badr Brigades
and other militias having used them as cover.
The flow southwards from the distributary streams of the Tigris was blocked by large embankments and discharged into the Al-Amarah or Glory Canal
, resulting in the loss of two-thirds of the Central Marshes by as early as 1993. A further canal, the Prosperity Canal, was constructed to prevent any overflow into the marsh from the main channel of the Tigris as it ran southwards from Qalat Saleh. By the late 1990s, the Central Marsh had become completely desiccated, suffering the most severe damage of the three main areas of wetland. By 2000, United Nations Environment Programme estimated that 90% of the marshlands had disappeared.
, Al-'Uzair
(Ezra's Tomb) and Al-Qurnah
and were mainly fed by the Tigris
and its distributaries. They were characterised by tall qasab reeds
but included a number of freshwater lake
s, of which the largest were the Haur az-Zikri and Umm al-Binni
(literally "mother of binni", the latter being a species of barbel.) The marshes supported breeding populations of the Basra Reed-warbler
and Marbled Teal, along with several other species of non-breeding birds. A bird subspecies
unique to the marshes, the African Darter
Anhinga rufa chantrei, may have already become extinct
by the 1990s. There were also populations of several mammal
species including the unique Erythronesokia bunnii (Bunn's Short-Tailed Bandicoot Rat) and the Smooth-coated Otter
subspecies Lutra perspicillata maxwelli, which had only been described from specimens obtained in the Central Marshes.
A study by the Wetland Ecosystem Research Group at Royal Holloway, University of London concluded that thousands of fish and waterfowl
died as the waters receded, and that the central Qurnah marshes 'essentially no longer exist as an ecosystem'.
According to a 2001 United Nations Environmental Programme report by Hassan Paltrow, the projects resulted in:
ian refugee camps. Only 1,600 of them were estimated to still be living on traditional dibins by 2003. The western Hammar Marshes
and the Qurnah or Central Marshes
had become completely desiccated, while the eastern Hawizeh Marshes
had dramatically shrunk.
The Marsh Arabs, who numbered about half a million in the 1950s, have dwindled to as few as 20,000 in Iraq, according to the United Nations. An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 have fled to refugee camps in Iran.
The plan, which was accompanied by a series of propaganda
articles by the Iraqi regime directed against the Ma'dan, systematically converted the wetlands into a desert
, forcing the residents out of their settlements in the region. Villages in the marshes were attacked and burnt down and there were reports of the water being deliberately poisoned.
Along with the Gulf war sanctions, there was no specific legal recourse, or prosecution of those involved with the project.
Article 2.c of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide forbids “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” The Saint Petersburg Declaration says that “the only legitimate object which States should endeavour to accomplish during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy.”
Since water flowed unfiltered into the Gulf, The Kuwait Regional Convention for Co-operation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution could be used to compensate Iraq’s neighbours for the increase of the marine pollution, but it does not protect the Maadan for the loss of their marshlands.
Mesopotamian Marshes
The Mesopotamian Marshes are a wetland area located in southern Iraq and partially in southwestern Iran. Historically the marshlands, mainly composed of the separate but adjacent Central, Hawizeh and Hammar Marshes, used to be the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia...
occurred in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and to a smaller degree in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
between the 1950s and 1990s to clear large areas of the marshes in the Tigris-Euphrates river system
Tigris-Euphrates river system
The Tigris–Euphrates river system is part of the palearctic Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh ecoregion, in the flooded grasslands and savannas biome, located in West Asia.-Geography:...
. Formerly covering an area of around 20000 square kilometre, the large complex of wetlands was 90% drained prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. The marshes are typically divided into three main sub-marshes, the Hawizeh, Central
Central Marshes
The Central or Qurna Marshes were a large complex of wetlands in Iraq that were part of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along with the Hawizeh and Hammar Marshes...
, and Hammar Marshes
Hammar Marshes
The Hammar Marshes are a large complex of wetlands in Iraq that are part of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along with the Mesopotamian Marshes which also encompass the Hawizeh and Central Marshes...
and all three were drained at different times for different reasons. Initial draining of the Central Marshes was intended to reclaim land for agriculture but later all three marshes would become a tool of war and revenge.
Many international organizations such as the U.N. Human Rights Commission, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), the International Wildfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, and Middle East Watch have described the draining as a political attempt to force the Ma'dan people out of the area through water diversion tactics.
History
The marshes had for some time been considered a refuge for elements persecuted by the government of Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, as in past centuries they had been a refuge for escaped slaves
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and serfs
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
, such as during the Zanj Rebellion
Zanj Rebellion
The Zanj Rebellion was the culmination of series of small revolts. It took place near the city of Basra, located in southern Iraq over a period of fifteen years . It grew to involve over 500,000 slaves who were imported from across the Muslim empire and claimed over “tens of thousands of lives in...
. The area was formerly populated by the Marsh Arabs
Marsh Arabs
The Marsh Arabs , also known as the Maʻdān , are inhabitants of the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands in the south and east of Iraq and along the Iranian border....
or Ma'dan, who grazed buffalo on the natural vegetation and carried out cultivation of rice. By the mid 1980s, a low-level insurgency
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
against Ba'athist drainage and resettlement projects had developed in the area, led by Sheik Abdul Kerim Mahud al-Muhammadawi of the Al bu Muhammad under the nom de guerre Abu Hatim.
The British were the first to drain Iraq's marshes which had no apparent economic value and bred mosquitoes. Prepared in 1951, The Haigh Report outlined a series of sluices, embankments and canals on the lower ends of the Tigris and Euphrates that would drain water for agriculture. In 1952, the Third River (a large canal) commenced that would drain part of the Central Marshes but it was not complete until 1992 as well as the Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station
Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station
The Nasiriyah Drainage Pump Station is a land drainage pumping station in Iraq 10km southeast of Nasiriyah in the province of Dhi Qar. The station pumps farm run-off collected by the Main Outfall Drain north of the Euphrates River in Dhi Qar and Muthanna provinces to a siphon under the Euphrates...
which was not completed until 2009. During the 1970s, the expansion of irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
projects had begun to disrupt the flow of water to the marshes. By the early 1980s, it was evident that irrigation projects were already affecting water levels in the marshes. Part of the Hammar Marsh was also drained in 1985 to clear area for oil exploration
Oil exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earth's surface, such as oil and natural gas...
.
Gulf War Draining
However, after the First Gulf War (1991), the Iraqi government aggressively revived a program to divert the flow of the Tigris River and the Euphrates River away from the marshes in retribution for a failed Shia uprising1991 uprisings in Iraq
The 1991 uprisings in Iraq were a series of anti-governmental rebellions in southern and northern Iraq during the aftermath of the Gulf War. The revolt was fueled by the perception that the power of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was vulnerable at the time; as well as by heavily fueled anger at...
. This was done primarily to eliminate the food source(s) of the Marsh Arabs and to prevent any remaining militiamen from taking refuge in the marshes, the Badr Brigades
Badr Organization
The Badr Organization previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps is an Iraqi political party headed by Hadi al-Amiri...
and other militias having used them as cover.
The flow southwards from the distributary streams of the Tigris was blocked by large embankments and discharged into the Al-Amarah or Glory Canal
Glory Canal
The Glory River , Glory Canal or Prosperity Canal is a shallow canal in Iraq about two kilometers wide built by Saddam Hussein in 1993 to redirect water flowing from the Tigris river into the Euphrates, near their confluence at the Shatt al-Arab...
, resulting in the loss of two-thirds of the Central Marshes by as early as 1993. A further canal, the Prosperity Canal, was constructed to prevent any overflow into the marsh from the main channel of the Tigris as it ran southwards from Qalat Saleh. By the late 1990s, the Central Marsh had become completely desiccated, suffering the most severe damage of the three main areas of wetland. By 2000, United Nations Environment Programme estimated that 90% of the marshlands had disappeared.
Environmental effects
The Central Marshes stretched between NasiriyahNasiriyah
Nasiriyah is a city in Iraq. It is on the Euphrates about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. It is the capital of the province of Dhi Qar...
, Al-'Uzair
Ezra's Tomb
Ezra's Tomb or the Tomb of Ezra is a location in Iraq on the western shore of the Tigris that was popularly believed to be the burial place of the biblical figure Ezra. Al-ʻUzair is the present name of the settlement that has grown up around the tomb....
(Ezra's Tomb) and Al-Qurnah
Al-Qurnah
Al-Qurnah is a small village in southern Iraq about 74 km northwest of Basra, within the town of Nahairat. Qurna is located at the point where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers join to form the Shatt al-Arab....
and were mainly fed by the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
and its distributaries. They were characterised by tall qasab reeds
Phragmites
Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
but included a number of freshwater lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s, of which the largest were the Haur az-Zikri and Umm al-Binni
Umm al Binni lake
Umm al Binni lake is a lake in Maysan Governorate in southern Iraq within the Central Marshes. The 3.4 km wide lake is approximately 45 km northwest of the Tigris–Euphrates confluence...
(literally "mother of binni", the latter being a species of barbel.) The marshes supported breeding populations of the Basra Reed-warbler
Basra Reed-warbler
The Basra Reed Warbler is a "warbler" of the genus Acrocephalus. It is an endemic breeder in East and southern Iraq and Israel in extensive beds of papyrus and reeds. It is easily mistaken for the Great Reed Warbler but is a bit smaller, has whiter under parts and has a narrower, longer and more...
and Marbled Teal, along with several other species of non-breeding birds. A bird subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
unique to the marshes, the African Darter
African Darter
The African Darter , sometimes called the Snakebird, is a water bird of sub-Saharan Africa.-Taxonomy:The African Darter is a member of the darter family, Anhingidae, and is closely related to American , Oriental , and Australian Darters.-Description:The male is mainly glossy...
Anhinga rufa chantrei, may have already become extinct
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
by the 1990s. There were also populations of several mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
species including the unique Erythronesokia bunnii (Bunn's Short-Tailed Bandicoot Rat) and the Smooth-coated Otter
Smooth-coated Otter
The Smooth-coated Otter is a species of otter, the only extant representative of the genus Lutrogale. The species is found from southern Pakistan and parts of the India east to Southeast Asia, and there is a disjunct population in Iraq...
subspecies Lutra perspicillata maxwelli, which had only been described from specimens obtained in the Central Marshes.
A study by the Wetland Ecosystem Research Group at Royal Holloway, University of London concluded that thousands of fish and waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
died as the waters receded, and that the central Qurnah marshes 'essentially no longer exist as an ecosystem'.
According to a 2001 United Nations Environmental Programme report by Hassan Paltrow, the projects resulted in:
- The loss of a migration area for birds migrating from Eurasia to Africa, and consequent decrease in bird populations in areas such as Ukraine and the Caucasus
- Probable extinction of several plant and animal species endemic to the Marshes
- Higher soil salinity in the Marshes and adjacent areas, resulting in loss of dairy production, fishing, and rice cultivation.
- DesertificationDesertificationDesertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
of over 7500 square miles (19,424.9 km²). - Saltwater intrusionSaltwater intrusionSaltwater intrusion is the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers. Most often, it is caused by ground-water pumping from coastal wells, or from construction of navigation channels or oil field canals. The channels and canals provide conduits for salt water to be brought into fresh...
and increased flow of pollutants into the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, causing disruption of fisheries in the Persian Gulf
Demographic effects
The majority of the Maʻdān were displaced either to areas adjacent to the drained marshes, abandoning their traditional lifestyle in favour of conventional agriculture, to towns and camps in other areas of Iraq or to IranIran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian refugee camps. Only 1,600 of them were estimated to still be living on traditional dibins by 2003. The western Hammar Marshes
Hammar Marshes
The Hammar Marshes are a large complex of wetlands in Iraq that are part of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along with the Mesopotamian Marshes which also encompass the Hawizeh and Central Marshes...
and the Qurnah or Central Marshes
Central Marshes
The Central or Qurna Marshes were a large complex of wetlands in Iraq that were part of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along with the Hawizeh and Hammar Marshes...
had become completely desiccated, while the eastern Hawizeh Marshes
Hawizeh Marshes (Iraq/Iran)
The Hawizeh Marshes are a complex of marshes that straddle the Iraq and Iran border. The marshes are fed by the Tigris River in Iraq and Karkheh River in Iran...
had dramatically shrunk.
The Marsh Arabs, who numbered about half a million in the 1950s, have dwindled to as few as 20,000 in Iraq, according to the United Nations. An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 have fled to refugee camps in Iran.
The plan, which was accompanied by a series of propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
articles by the Iraqi regime directed against the Ma'dan, systematically converted the wetlands into a desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, forcing the residents out of their settlements in the region. Villages in the marshes were attacked and burnt down and there were reports of the water being deliberately poisoned.
Political Response
The AMAR International Charitable Foundation described the event as "an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe of monumental proportions with regional and global implications."Along with the Gulf war sanctions, there was no specific legal recourse, or prosecution of those involved with the project.
Article 2.c of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide forbids “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” The Saint Petersburg Declaration says that “the only legitimate object which States should endeavour to accomplish during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy.”
Since water flowed unfiltered into the Gulf, The Kuwait Regional Convention for Co-operation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution could be used to compensate Iraq’s neighbours for the increase of the marine pollution, but it does not protect the Maadan for the loss of their marshlands.
Reflooding
Following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, embankments and drainage works were broken open, and the marshes began to reflood. The Central Marshes showed little recovery through 2003, but by early 2004 a patchwork of lakes had appeared in northern areas; there was flooding in southern areas which had previously been dry since the early 1990s. There has been some corresponding recolonization by the natural marsh vegetation since that time, and return of some species of fish and birds, although recovery of the Central Marshes has been much slower compared to the Huwaizah and Hammar Marshes; the most severely damaged sections of the wetlands have yet to show any signs of regeneration. Erythronesokia bunnii, Lutra perspicillata maxwelli and Anhinga rufa chantrei are all thought to have become extinct.See also
- Aral SeaAral SeaThe Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...
- a similarly catastrophic water diversion project - The SuddSuddThe Sudd , also known as the Bahr al Jabal, As Sudd or Al Sudd, is a vast swamp in South Sudan, formed by the White Nile. The word “sudd” is derived from the Arabic word “sadd”, meaning “block.” The term has come to refer to any large solid floating vegetation island or mat...
- a large marshland in Africa, site of another planned large-scale draining project within a desert ecosystem