On May 11, Nature Iraq celebrated World Migratory Bird Day in Chibaish, our home base in the Southern Mesopotamian Marshlands.  WMBD was initiated in 2006 and is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. On the second weekend each May, people around the world take action and organize public events such as bird festivals, education programs and birdwatching excursions to celebrate WMBD. 

Nature Iraq’s celebration of WMBD included lectures and workshops on the relationship between migratory birds and tourism, birds’ migration, Iraq’s first national park, use of equipment in fieldwork studying wildlife, a bird field guides, bird count methodologies, and data analysis.

One overarching theme of the event, was introducing participants on how to develop sustainable tourism through bird watching, photography of wildlife, and marketing innovative products and handicrafts to improve livelihoods in the area, with benefits for both people and wildlife. These links can be used to build a sustainable long-term plans for economic growth and to preserve wildlife for a better future for both communities and wildlife.  

More than 30 people participated, including students from the Teacher’s Institute, delegates from the Ministry of Water resources, and volunteer birdwatchers.

Nature Iraq’s WMBD celebration was an activity of the Marshlands Empowerment Project a two-year program that will foster and improve the socio-economic circumstances and culture of Marsh Arab women and men while protecting the biological diversity and natural resources of the Mesopotamian marshlands within the framework of Iraq’s first National Park through an integrated program of research, development activities, training, advocacy, and information sharing.

Nature Iraq's Waterkeepers Iraq program initiates the Choman-Rawanduz River Expedition this week with a major Kick-Off Event on the 9-10th of May on the river near the town of Choman in Erbil Governorate.  The expedition is an opportunity to promote and celebrate Iraq's amazing wild rivers and raise awareness about the threat they face.

The Kick-Off will include music, arts, nature walks and presentations.  There will be talks and demonstrations with experts on river safety and kayaking and water quality monitoring.  All are welcome to this free event, which runs 12 to 5 pm on Friday,9 May and 11 to 5 pm on Saturday, 10 May. The expedition will then proceed down the river and there will also be another outreach event on 16 May in the Rawanduz Gorge

For more details see: www.iraqwaterkeeper.org 

This expedition would not be possible without the generous financial and logistical support of the organizations listed below, or the supportive contributors to the Indiegogo campaign.

Nature Iraq, BirdLife in Iraq, is pleased to announce that it has received funding from the Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation (AVJCF) to conduct a two-year program that will foster and improve the socio-economic circumstances and culture of Marsh Arab women and men while protecting the biological diversity and natural resources of the Mesopotamian Marshlands within the framework of the Iraq’s first National Park through an integrated program of research, development activities, training, advocacy, and information sharing.

In the 1990s, the Saddam regime conducted a campaign to completely drain the marshlands, reducing their footprint by nearly 93%. After 2003, local people and the government took action to restore the waters, and the southern marshlands, though greatly changed, have returned, as have the birds, fish, water buffalo, and the Ma’dan, and remain a vital economic and ecological resource.

Ammar Zakri, Nature Iraq’s CEO, said of the project: “The Aage V. Jensen Charity Foundation’s generous support will enable us to build on the long work we have already done in the marshes, and expand the scope of our activities related to the new National Park.“

The project will consist of three major interrelated activities: 

1. Data collection and dissemination: We will supplement our long running information gathering projects by conducting targeted threat assessments, bird counts, and socio-economic surveys of fishing, hunting, and gathering practices.
   
2. Capacity building:  We will strengthen the capacity of government officials and of community members in and around the National Park, with the aim of enable more effective and appropriate hunting and natural resource regulations to be formulated and their enforcement strengthened to eliminate unsustainable fishing and hunting practices and encourage better management of the marshlands.
   
3. Socio-economic development: We will identify institutions and individuals active in socio-economic development, bolster participation in existing institutions, and facilitate the formation of new institutions, if necessary. 
   
   

A major value of this project will be assistance in bridging gaps between government bodies, including the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Water Resources, local councils, and governorate-level bodies and the local community members whose lives will be directly affected by the institution of the national park.

Nature Iraq has partnered with Dwell Earth to launch a new project to model sustainable building practices, in particular compressed earth blocks.   Dwell Earth is an American company whose mission is to deliver innovative building solutions utilizing advanced compressed earth block construction technologies, appropriate design, and project management by utilizing local resources to help transform lives and communities throughout the world. The company describes compressed earth block as “a construction material made from the dirt beneath your feet to build a wide variety of structures including homes, schools, churches, clinics, stores, barricades and fortifications.”

The project launched with a training conducted by Adam De Jong, one of Dwell Earth’s founding partners, which ran from March 23 to April 2. The training focused on giving project leaders the skills necessary to identify suitable soil, amend local soil for construction purposes, and produce and utilize Dwell Earth’s V-Lock Block System.

Adam stated at the close of the training: “I cannot say enough about the team that Nature Iraq was able to assemble. I have conducted many of these trainings around the world and this team was by far the best that I have had the pleasure to work with. There was a tremendous amount of camaraderie to accompany the tremendous work ethic of all staff members. Everyone fell into their own roles and excelled, making for a very productive and fun working environment. [The project leaders] will surely bring success to Nature Iraq’s vision for the compressed earth block projects of the future.”

An estimated 30% of the world’s population live in earthen structures.  Compressed earth blocks combined time-tested, traditional, familiar construction methods with modern efficiency and precision.  Compressed block structures are:

• cheap, as they utilize primarily local material and require less energy input than cement, wood, or brick.
  
• environmentally efficient as they require 20-o 30% less energy to heat and cool.
  
• non-toxic.
  
• long lasting.
  
• comfortable.
  
• aesthetically pleasing.
  
  

In Iraq, in particular, cement construction is ubiquitous, which leads to massive inefficiencies in the energy use of buildings, and takes a massive toll on the local environment during cement production. Nature Iraq is seeking to mitigate these effects by modeling an accessible, sustainable alternative. For more information about Nature Iraq’s new project, or to inquire about possible partnerships, please contact us.

In 2013, the World Monument Fund developed a heritage management program for Kurdish and Iraqi professionals that stemmed from its long-running commitment to Babylon. Sponsored by the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation, the program brought U.S. faculty members to an Iraqi preservation context to teach, exchange knowledge and ideas, and consider how best to equip local stakeholders with the capacity to preserve their own heritage in the years to come. WMF is pleased that the program is continuing through 2014.  


Read more about Nature Iraq's involvement with the program!

Nature Iraq's CEO, Ammar Zakri, recently sat down with Iraq Hurr, an affiliate of Radio Free Iraq, to discuss the Rawanduz River Expedition.

Listen to the interview (in Arabic) below or on Iraq Hurr's website. And, you can help make the Rawanduz River Expedition possible by contributing to the project on Indiegogo.

Check out some of the coverage Iraq's first national park is getting in English-language media!

This post will be updated as the park receives more coverage.

National Geographic's Water Currents blog, which focuses on freshwater conservation issues, talked to Dr. Azzam Alwash, Nature Iraq's founder and President of our Board of Directors, about the park.

The Telegraph, a UK Newspaper, offers a lyrical ode to the reflooding of the marshes, with a particular focus on Dr. Alwash's work.

New Scientist, a science magazine, contrasted the serenity of the marshes with the turbulent security situation in Baghdad, and spoke to Mudhafar Salim, a Program Director at Nature Iraq.

Wanderlust, a British magazine, followed stories on the ecotourism potential of southern Iraq and on tourism in Kurdistan with a brief piece on the tourism potential of the park.

Arkive, a website devoted to species conservation, highlighted the conservation potential of the park, particularly in terms of wildlife.

Green Prophet, a website focused on environmental issues in the Middle East who have extensively covered Nature Iraq's work in the past, profiled the general restoration of the marshlands.

Environment News Service, a global newswire focused on environmental issues, has covered the marshes, and linked them to transboundary water issues. 

Co.exist, a wide ranging blog covering numerous topics, focused on the internal challenges overcome in the creation of the park.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature, one of the largest international conservation organizations, gave a detailed description of the wildlife and the park's management plan.

Iraq Declares its First National Park 

On 23rd July 2013, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved the designation of the Central Marshes of Iraq as the country’s first National Park. The efforts to declare this unique landscape a park and protected area began in 2006 through a joint effort by Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Municipalities with support from Nature Iraq, an Iraqi environmental conservation organization, and other national and international institutions. Financial support for the effort came from the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land & Sea.

The Mesopotamian Marshlands of southern Iraq were once the 3rd largest wetlands in the world, originally extending between twelve and fifteen thousand square kilometers and partially covering the three southern governorates of Iraq (Missan, Thi Qar & Basrah). They were a vital resource for regional fisheries, reeds, and other natural resources; the home of the indigenous Ma’dan Marsh Arab culture, which is directly linked to ancient Sumeria; and a globally important area for large numbers of migrant and wintering birds, and the native habitat of endemic birds and other valuable wildlife. In the 1990s, the Saddam regime conducted a campaign to completely drain the marshlands, reducing their footprint by nearly 93%. The United Nations Environmental Programme called this action the worst environmental disaster of the last century.  But after 2003, local people and the government took action to restore the waters, and the southern marshlands, though greatly changed, have returned, as have the birds, fish, water buffalo and the Ma’dan, and remain a vital economic and ecological resource.

Azzam Alwash, founder and President of the Board of Directors of Nature Iraq said of the recent declaration: “With this action, Iraq has acted to preserve the cradle of civilization.  It is now the duty of the world to help Iraq maintain these wetlands for the future generations by helping Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran to reach an equitable agreement on the sharing of the waters in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates.”

Nature Iraq particularly applauds the difficult work done by the staff of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Environment, and the National Park Committee to make the Park a reality. Much work remains to be done to make the park a reality on the ground. Soon, the park, if properly implemented and managed, can provide both a refuge for Iraq’s marshland biodiversity and a sustainable boost to the local economy through park-related tourism and related socio-economic development projects.

For more information on Iraq’s first National Park, please contact Nature Iraq via email at info@natureiraq.org or contact Ammar Zakri, CEO at +964 770 211 6258.

Arwa Damon gets taken white water rafting by a group of Iraqis hoping to turn Kurdistan into a haven for eco-tourists. Click here to seethe trailer