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EV-8:
Can
the Mesopotamian Marsh's Garden of Eden in
Iraq
be restored?
Endorsed
by INTECOL
Tuesday,
August 9, 8 PM - 10 PM, Meeting Rooms 510b-d, Level 5,
Palais des congrès de Montréal
Organizers:
Curt Richardson, Barry Warner
Description:
The
Mesopotamian marshes of southern
Iraq
are
considered by many to be the “cradle of western civilization” and are often
referred to as the Garden of Eden. It has been suggested that a lack of overflow
water from the
Tigris
and
Euphrates
,
extremely poor water quality conditions, plus the presence of toxic materials,
and saline soil conditions in the remaining and drained marshes of southern
Iraq
will
prevent their ecological restoration and thus doom the reestablishment of the
5,000-year-old marsh Arab culture of fishing and agriculture. The first field
evidence indicates that successful wetland restoration is occurring in some
regions, but is limited in others areas mostly due to saline soil conditions and
poor marsh vegetation reestablishment. More important are serious transboundary
issues concerning
Turkey
and
Iranian construction of dams that could remove most of the
Euphrates
flow
and greatly restrict flows from other water sources to the marshes. Come join
this evening talk session with the Iraqi scientists who are currently risking
their lives collecting data in the field to try to save the marshes.
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