Bombs, bullets and birds in Iraq

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IRAQ:

Amid Sectarian Chaos, Bird Lovers Persevere

Stephen Leahy

 

*BROOKLIN, Canada, Jan 25 (IPS) - Can Iraqi dreams for a better future be

glimpsed in the publication Thursday of the first-ever field guide to the

country's 387 bird species? *

 

" For Iraq, a nation that has lost so much of its wildlife in the last 20

years, this book opens the door for the growing conservation movement in

this country, " said Ali Douabul of Nature Iraq, an Iraqi NGO focused on the

protection and restoration of the environment.

 

Published in Arabic, the " Field Guide to the Birds of Iraq " is a fully

illustrated guide based on three years of surveys by mainly Iraqi and

Jordanian birders and biologists.

 

Why a bird book for Iraq?

 

" It has opened the door to the outside world for Iraqi scientists, " said

Azzam Alwash, CEO of Nature Iraq.

 

Many Iraqis have received training in conservation, water management and

biodiversity as a result of the effort, Alwash told IPS on a shaky phone

connection from Baghdad. " We've been able to find new information about

endangered species that will be released in the months to come. "

 

The funding for the project was provided the Canadian International

Development Agency, the World Bank and the Ornithological Society of the

Middle East.

 

" The book will help Iraqis recognise their own birds and understand that

their country, and especially the Mesopotamian marshlands, is an important

region for birds, " says Barry Warner of the University of Waterloo, Canada

and director of the Canada-Iraq Marshlands Initiative. The goal of the

initiative is to help Iraqis understand, assess and manage their wetlands.

 

" The marshlands are a very important ecosystem in the Middle East and they

are making a comeback, " Warner said in an interview.

 

Believed by some to be the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden, the marshes

were once one of the world's largest at roughly 9,000 square kilometers.

 

Famous for their rich biodiversity and home to millions of birds, the

marshes also formed a natural filtre for waste and other pollutants in the

Tigris and Euphrates rivers, protecting the Gulf, which has now become

noticeably degraded along the coast of Kuwait.

 

Beginning in the late 1980s, the construction of a series of dams upstream

in Turkey and Iran and the deliberate draining of the marshes by Saddam

Hussein's regime systematically destroyed more than 90 percent of the marsh,

which had been home to a half million people. Many of these so-called Marsh

Arabs had been part of the aborted attempt to overthrow Hussein in 1991.

 

Because of the ecological importance of the marsh for migrating birds and

water quality, and its key role in the production of rice, fish and dairy

products, efforts to revive the marsh began shortly after the second U.S.

war in 2003.

 

Plans for restoration were drawn up by a group of Canadian and Italian

wetland experts at the behest of the Eden Again Project. Funded by the Iraq

Foundation, a U.S.-based group of expatriates, the sole purpose of the

project is help Iraqis restore their marshlands.

 

Since 2003, about 60 percent of the marshes have been re-flooded and between

25 and 35 percent is recovering, says Alwash.

 

The detailed restoration and management plan released last fall concludes

that up to 75 percent of the marsh could be brought back and maintained for

the long term if there is enough water. Turkey, which already has 33 dams

upstream, plans to build another huge dam on the Tigris River.

 

" Turkey will have to be part of the long-term solution, " Alwash stressed.

 

The re-flooding has already increased the number of bird species and their

numbers based on local observations, says Sharif Jbour of BirdLife

International, a global partnership of conservation groups in over 100

countries.

 

" The marshes are coming back quickly and the region's biodiversity is

increasing rapidly, " Jbour told IPS from Amman, Jordan.

 

Not only is the marsh home to two species found nowhere else in the world,

it is an important resting and staging area for many European species of

birds, he said.

 

Collecting this information was challenging. Not only is the area remote,

everything had to be planned very carefully and local tribal leaders and

police informed well in advance.

 

" It is very suspicious to be seen wandering around with a bird spotting

telescope on your shoulder, " Jbour noted.

 

Local people have already expressed an interest in the book and because they

hunt birds for food and trade it is important to educate them about what

species are endangered or in low numbers, he said.

 

The book will also be used in schools and a version is planned for young

children.

 

And in a decision unlikely to be covered by the international news media,

the Iraqi parliament voted this week to apply for membership in the

U.N.-backed Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The hope is to have a large

portion of the Mesopotamian marshlands registered as wetlands of

international importance, says Alwash.

 

" These are some of the most wildlife-rich sites in the Middle East, but

often all we hear about is the conflict, " said Richard Porter, BirdLife

International's Middle-East advisor and co-author of the guide.

 

" It's recognised across the world that biodiversity can enhance quality of

life in a region. By publishing this field guide with Nature Iraq, we are

improving the ease with which people can become involved in conservation in

the region; a positive step which has potential economic benefits for the

nation as a whole, " Porter said in a statement. .

 

" It's also one of the only good news stories coming out of Iraq, " Warner

observed. . (END/2007)

 

 

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Sectarian Chaos,

Bird Lovers Persevere>