Press Release: Only 21 days left on the Rawanduz River Expedition Campaign Nature Iraq’s Waterkeepers Iraq Program is more than a month into its 60-day crowd-funding campaign to support the Rawanduz River Expedition, its new initiative to protect rivers in Iraq. We’ve raised 3600 USD of our 10,000 USD goal and have just 21 days to go!  Along with our partners in the project (Nature Iraq Foundation, American Canoe Association and Majestic Heights Outdoor Adventures, a Kurdistan Iraq-based eco-tourism company), we hope you can lend us your support for this project that will raise awareness and change attitudes toward Iraq’s threatened rivers. 

On the Expedition we will do the following:
·         We will lead a kayak expedition down the Rawanduz River of Kurdistan, northern Iraq in May of 2014 with a team of professional kayakers, river advocates, and a videographer who will conduct outreach to local communities raising awareness about river threats.
·         The story of the expedition will be retold in a short film, which will chronicle this record-setting first kayak expedition down the full length of the Rawanduz River in northern Iraq. The film will be used to raise awareness locally and internationally, showcasing the tourism potential of these rivers and demonstrating how they can be protected and used sustainably (The fundraising campaign will largely cover this part of the project)

The Rawanduz River is a tributary to the Greater Zab River, a major tributary to the Tigris and the last wild river in Iraq. Rivers and the environment in Iraq are under grave threats from uncontrolled development. This is particularly true in Kurdistan, northern Iraq. After decades of conflict this relatively stable part of the country is rushing to develop and in so doing is putting its last wild and scenic rivers on the chopping block without realizing what a tremendous resource that they may lose. 

Contributors to the Indiegogo Expedition fund-raising campaign will have different benefits at the variou levels of support (anywhere from $1 to $5000) from t-shirts and bumper stickers, to birding,hiking, and river trips in Iraq, ACA Membership, and even your own kayak! U.S. contributions are tax deductible.

You can read the full story on Indiegogo or the program website. We only have 21 days left to raise the funds we need, so please support the Rawanduz Kayak Expedition Campaign on Indiegogo, and help us spread the word by sharing this link and encouraging your contacts to support the Expedition.


For more information, please contact us:

·      +964 770 359 4408 (Nabil Musa, the Waterkeeper)
·      Via Email: info@natureiraq.org or nabil.musa@natureiraq.org
·      On Facebook
·      On Twitter

Dr. Azzam Alwash, Nature Iraq's Founder and President of our Board of Directors, has been included on Foreign Policy Magazine's list of The Leading Global Thinkers of 2013.  The 134 individuals recognized, also including Edward Snowden, Hassan Rouhani, Malala Yousafzai, and Elon Musk, "have made a measurable difference in politics, business, technology, the arts, the sciences, and more."  Dr. Alwash was recognized specifically in the category of "The Naturals," which Foreign Policy describes as individuals who are "helping humanity become a better steward of the planet and, in the process, ensuring that our future will be long and fruitful."

This recognition tops off a remarkable year for Dr. Alwash and for Nature Iraq, following Dr. Alwash's receipt of the Goldman Award, the announcement of Iraq's first National Park in the Mesopotamian Marshlands, and the execution of the Tigris River Flotilla.

Having arrived at the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates on the 13th of October, The Tigris River Flotilla concluded in Chibaish, Iraq on the 15th of October with an event celebrating the river and proclaiming its importance.  After the flotilla crew and numerous community members floated in to the Chibaish riverside, audience members were treated to photographic exhibitions, poetry readings, presentations by Nature Iraq staff and significant partners, and chances to experience the boats first hand.

The event in Chibaish marked the end of a month's worth of travel for the Flotilla crew, and the last of a series of events stretching the length of the Tigris.  Across two nations, in six cities, and over 1,200 kilometers of river, the Flotilla raised awareness in local and international communities about Iraq's rich cultural and natural heritage.  On river, we met with a wide range of interested stakeholders, who would often meet us in boats, talk, and occasionally ask to race.  Off river, we conducted presentations and spoke to national and international media to raise awareness about the state of the river, and raise questions about its future.

See more photos (and video!) on the Nature Iraq Foundation and Tigris River Flotilla Facebook Pages.

On the heels of the event in Baghdad, the Tigris River Flotilla team recently completed a three-day float downstream from Kut.  The team experienced incredible hospitality both in and out of the city, from being fed perfect kebab near the Kut barrage to repeatedly being sheltered in community guest houses downstream.  The team was able to have long conversations about the state of the river with many interested parties, and hope to build on these new connections in the future..

One of the most unexpected moments of this leg of the trip happened just downstream of the Kut barrage, when a man in a bright blue metal guffa paddled out to have a chat.  He uses his craft for fishing, and had last purchased a traditional guffa in Hilla in 1985, which had lasted him 10 years, after.  The traditions live on!

For more information, and more photos, check the Facebook pages of the Flotilla and of the Nature Iraq Foundation.

The team would like to thank in particular the representatives of the Ministry of Water Resources and the Office of the Governor of Wassit who made our stay pleasant and safe. 

Join us for this historic event on September 28!

On September 15, 2013, a flotilla of traditional Mesopotamian boats began a journey down the Tigris River on an historic voyage of celebration, education, and data collection.  Over the course of 60 days and over 1200 kilometers flowing from southeastern Turkey to southern Iraq, the Tigris River Flotilla will celebrate the cultural heritage of Mesopotamia, bring environmental awareness to riverside communities, and study the river’s current hydrological condition.  

Throughout the course of our journey, participants from Iraq, Turkey, Canada, and the United States of America will float down the river using modern and traditional boats.  The traditional boats – a tarada, a guffa, and a kelek – were built by local communities in both Turkey and Iraq and are meant to celebrate the unique cultural heritage of these communities and unite their people through common tradecraft.

Join us on 28 September at Jadiriyah Lake in Baghdad at 10:00 to 14:00.  The Flotilla will float into the city and dock at the same place, where we will display the traditional boats, show nature artwork and photographs, and give presentations highlighting the importance of the Tigris River.  

Schedule:
10:00: Reception of guests, drinks and music
10:30: Flotilla Arrives!
10:30 to 11:00: Speeches by Dr. Azzam Alwash, Rashad Salim, and Jassim Dwaij about the Tigris River Flotilla project and the traditional boats
11:00 to 14:00: Display of traditional boats, presentation of nature photographs, enjoyment of music, and river cleanup.

Nature Iraq Foundation, Nature Iraq and Waterkeepers Iraq officially launched the Tigris River Flotilla outside of Hasankeyf, Turkey on Sept. 15. The launch was the first leg in a journey of traditional Mesopotamian boats that will journey down the Tigris River on an historic voyage of celebration, education and data collection to bring awareness to the importance of the Tigris River to the communities of Turkey and Iraq.

The Flotilla will exhibit and utilize three types of traditional boats – the tarada from the marshlands of southern Iraq, the guffa from central Iraq, and the kelek from Hasankeyf. These boats have provided the basis for trade and commerce along the Tigris for millennia and today are a potential resource for ecotourism entrepreneurs. Vital consulting for the construction of the kelek and guffa has been provided by Rashad Salim. To learn more, check out the Nature Iraq Foundation's introduction to the historic vessels in use on the flotilla.

The launch was timed to be part of the 4th Hasankeyf Ingathering, an twice-annual event held by Hasankeyf Matters and Nature Iraq with the goals of exploring the city of Hasankeyf and its environs, bringing people from different cultures together for dialogue and mutual understanding, and calling attention to local traditions and practices that could provide the foundation for environmentally sustainable economic development over the coming decades.

Nature Iraq would particularly like to thank the staff of Hasankeyf Hasbahçe and Ramazan Usta's Çardak.

Photos can be found on on the Flotilla website, and on Facebook. Watch the Flotilla promotional video after the jump, or on Vimeo with Arabic, Kurdish, or Turkish subtitles.

On June 29, Nature Iraq organized a workshop in the hall of the syndicate of engineers in Nasiriyah governorate in cooperation with the Save the Tigris Campaign, a collaborative activist campaign supported by Iraq's Civil Development Organization, the Iraqi Civil Society and Solidarity Initiative, the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive, Corner House from the UK, CounterCurrnet from Germany and OnPonte Per from Italy.

The workshop included two presentations, one delivered by the head of Nature Iraq’s office in Chibaish, Jassim Al Assadi and the other from Puerto Rican environmental activist Joanna Riviera, who is deeply in love with the Mesopotamian marshes. The two lectures presented the status and the anticipated future of the marshes and the reflooding requirements.

Then, a film about the brutality of the infamous campaign of the drying of the marshes executed by Saddam’s regime and the uniqueness of the marshes and their global and local importance was presented. A photographic presentation depicting the beauty and the diversity of the marshes concluded the workshop.

The workshop was attended by Thi Qar Council member Mr. Shaheed Al-Ghalibi and a large number of locals, representatives of NOGs, government officials and the press. The participants contributed in the discussions, which enriched the event and facilitated for more future cooperation.

The workshop was also covered by Al Fayhaa Satellite Channel.

Thanks to the work of the Tigris River Flotilla, for the first time in 50 years the Sheikhs of the Mesopotamian marshlands will travel through the timeless water in a Tarada.

The Mesopotamian Marshlands of southern Iraq are the home of the Ma'dan Marsh Arabs (who have a directancestral link to the peoples of ancient Sumer). Their sheiks once travelled in this watery world in graceful,long (up to 8 to 10 meter) Tarada, which were once the war canoes of the marshes.

They carried up to 12 people andcould cover 80 kilometers in a day with ease.

The Tarada is a bitumen-coated reed canoe, with large iron-bossed nails studding in its flanks. The canoe was made famous by the British explorer Wilfred Thessiger in the 1950s, who traveled extensively within the region by Tarada.

As the wetlands have declined and shrunk in size, the Taradas disappeared from the reedbeds of the Mesopotamian marshlands. In Chibaish, on April first the Tarada will appear again for the first time in 50 years.