The Mesopotamian Marshes are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq bordering Iran. Historically, the marshlands were the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. This rare aquatic landscape in the desert provides a habitat for important populations of wildlife. As the name suggests, the Mesopotamian Marshes are located in the larger region which used to be called Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, literally meaning ''in between rivers'', is now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, south-eastern Turkey and Southwest Iran. The Mesopotamian Marshes are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq bordering Iran. Historically the marshlands, composed of the Central, Huwaizah and Hammar Marshes, used to be the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. It is a rare aquatic landscape in the desert, providing habitat for important populations of wildlife. As their name suggests the Mesopotamian Marshes are located in the larger region which used to be called Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, literally meaning "in between rivers", is now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, south-eastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran. In the late 4th millennium BC the first literate societies emerged in Mesopotamia, often referred to as the Cradle of Civilization, and the first cities and complex state bureaucracies were developed here. Due to the geographical location and the ecological factors of the Fertile Crescent, a crescent-shape fertile area running from the basins of the Nile in Egypt, northwards along the Mediterranean coast in Palestine and Israel, and southwards again along the Euphrates and the Tigris (Mesopotamia) towards the Persian Gulf, civilizations were able to develop agricultural and technological programmes. The crucial trigger was the availability of wild edible plant species. Farming arose early in the Fertile Crescent because the area had a great quantity of wild wheat and pulse species that were nutritious and easy to domesticate.
“All truly sustainable, and therefore successful, environmental restoration projects are as much about restoring degraded human – nature relationships as they are about simply repairing degraded physical landscapes” - Healing Natures, Repairing Relationships: New Perspectives on Restoring Ecological Spaces and Consciousness, 2004
This conference is not solely about Iraq. Instead, the conference will highlight successfully implemented projects from around the world that could be adapted to Iraq as well as elsewhere. Topics and case studies to be presented will deal with ecological restoration, hydrological modeling, wildlife management, ecotourism, and wastewater and agricultural engineering. Individuals interested in wetlands, sustainable development, land-use planning and design, watershed management, environmental engineering, human rights issues, and Middle Eastern politics will all benefit from attending. The Al Hawizah Marshes comprise the largest remaining tract of wetlands in the Mesopotamian Marshlands of Iran and Iraq. In the last 10 years, damming and diversion of waters from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and draining of wetlands has led to a loss of 85% of wetlands that once covered about 20,000 square km (7,725 square miles). This ecological disaster has been studied using Landsat data and summarized in a report by the United Nation Environment Programme’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment, entitled The Mesopotamian Marshlands: Demise of an Ecosystem.
