The Ahwar of Southern Iraq becomes UNESCO World Heritage Status (2016 - 2023)

In 2016, the property Ahwar of Southern Iraq was inscribed as a World Heritage site under cultural criteria iii) and v) and natural criteria ix) and x) under the title: “Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities.” Under cultural criteria it comprised the ruins of Uruk, Ur and Eridu. The natural property comprised the West Hammar Marshes (38 %), the Central Marshes (29 %), the Hawizeh Marshes (23 %) and the East Hammar Marshes (9 %). The total seven components span over four governorates in Iraq. 

The Mesopotamian marshes, named for the historic region defined by the Tigris and Euphrates, lie on a vast, flat floodplain in Southern Iraq where the lower courses of the rivers come together to form an extensive inland delta. The water that keeps the Marshes alive originates mainly from the watersheds of both rivers in the Anatolian highlands of Turkey and tributaries from the Zagros highlands of Iran which join the Tigris. The river flow provides a flooding pulse downstream. In Southern Iraq the land flattens out, the rivers slow and drop sediment, meander, and split into branches before (only the Euphrates river) flow into the Persian Gulf – historically at least. 

From the 1950s until 1970s, the estimated extent of the Mesopotamian Marshes, also known as Ahwar Southern Iraq, was 15,000-20,000 square kilometres. The marsh wetlands supported the traditional lifestyles of an estimated half a million people, up until the 1950s. The Ahwari, the correct name for indigenous communities of the region, developed a unique culture centred on the marshes’ natural resources and livelihoods based on fishing, harvesting reeds, cultivating crops and raising water buffalo. For centuries, they lived in a rather secluded world, away from outside influence. 

Since the 1960s and the years to follow, oil exploration, upstream dam construction, drainage for agriculture, war and international conflicts, as well as drought and desertification caused by climate change have damaged this valuable ecosystem. Due to draining of the marshes in the 1980s and 1990s by former dictator Saddam Hussein, the wetlands declined dramatically and their extent was reduced by about 90 % by 2000. As a consequence, only around 20,000 of the former half a million Ahwari remained. In 2003, when Saddam was defeated by the American-led invasion; the dams, dikes, and levees dug to drain the marshes were demolished, many on local initiatives. Both the water and the Ahwari returned. 

Now, two decades later, at least 70 % of the marshes are devoid of water (some sources mention 85 %). Dam projects in Turkey, Syria and Iran have reduced the volume of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The decreased river flow results in the intrusion of saltwater from the Gulf. There is still high soil and water salinity, stemming from the many years the land had been drying out. Pollution is rising alongside salination. Sewers, pesticides and waste from factories and hospitals are dumped directly into the rivers along its courses and much of it ends up in the Marshes. Hawizeh and Hammar Marshes have additionally been exploited due to its rich oil reserves. Drought is now ravaging the marshes for a fifth-consecutive year, which is the worst in 40 years according to the United Nations. Rainfall is becoming increasingly rare. The World Bank forecasts that in the next 25 years the temperature will go up by an average of 2.5 degrees. In the past years, many of the Ahwari were forced to leave their lands to cities or other regions within Iraq. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) calls it an “exodus.” Moreover, on arrival in the new destination, the Ahwari are often treated as pariahs. The marshes will most likely never be the same as they once were. It is unclear how long re-inundated areas will stay that way, considering changing climate, upstream dam projects and humanity’s role in preserving or exploiting nature and its resources. 

The UNESCO World Heritage status and Iraq's participation in the Ramsar Convention on International Wetlands provided a platform for international discussion. But still the local political framework is missing. The Mesopotamian Marshlands National Park exists on paper only. The Eden in Iraq Wastewater Garden Project, a pilot project between Ecotechnics UK/U.S. and Nature Iraq, is on hold since 2021 because of inadequate financing and lack of political will on the part of the Ministry of Water Resources. The Work by Center for the Restoration of the Iraqi Marshes (CRIME), which was founded as a division of the Ministry of Water in 2003, along with Iraq’s involvement in various international conventions, helps to ensure the preservation of limited specific areas of the Marshes and only in the short term. Regardless of all efforts, the Ahwar Southern Iraq with its inhabitants can only survive if there is enough water.

This article was written by Hella Mewis and is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.