Geography and ecoregions of Iraq

The Mesopotamian Marshes of Southern Iraq

Marshes Reference List

Public Statements about the Mesopotamian Marshes

Political Commentary on Iraq

The Mesopotamian Marshes: Demise of an Ecosystem
A 2001 United Nations Environment Programme report on the disappearing Mesopotamian marshes.
The Amar Foundation
Charitable organization supporting rights of Iraqi Marsh Arabs and restoration of the southern marshes.
Eden Again: Restoration of the Mesopotamian Marshes
The Iraq Foundation is sponsoring a new project, Eden Again, to restore the southern Iraqi marshlands. Contact Dr. Suzie Alwash, project director, for more information.
Exile Wants to Return Life to Marsh Hussein Drained
Bill Spindle, Wall Street Journal
Saddam Hussein reduced the 'Garden of Eden' on the Tigris and Euphrates to salt-encrusted wasteland. How Azzam and Suzanne Alwash are planning to restore it.

Iraq Update: U.S. Department of State: Selected articles about the Mesopotamian marshes:

• Iraqi Regime Devastates Environment of Marsh Arabs
  Satellite imagery shows extensive injury to wetland ecosystem: April 24, 2002.
• Destroying the Marshes
  A section of the U.S. State Department report, Iraq: Crimes Against Humanity: May 7, 2002.
• Saddam Hussein Has Destroyed 90% of Iraq's Wetlands Heritage
  Iraqi-born engineer describes the marshes' devastation--Interview with Dr. Azzam Alwash: October 1, 2002.
• Legal Expert Describes Iraqi Treatment of Marsh Arabs as Genocide
  Joseph Dellapenna, Villanova University Law School professor and international water rights expert, says the massive network of canals in southern Iraq is meant to destroy a people: November 18, 2002.
• Satellite Photos: Southern marshes before and after attack by the Iraqi government.

Human Rights Watch
The Iraqi Government Assault on the Marsh Arabs: A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper
Iraq: Devastation of Marsh Arabs: Human Rights News, January 25, 2003

Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)
1. A Visit to the Marshes and Iran-Iraq Border, 1993.
2. Saddam's Scheme to Drain the Marshes. Summary of captured Iraqi document; two photos taken from ground-level.
First select "English version," then "About Iraq," then "Saddam's Crimes." To find 1., select "Arab Marshes." To find 2., select "Marshes Drainage."
A Directory of Wetlands in the Middle East: Iraq
Middle East wetland inventory with detailed information on the geography and ecology of the Mesopotamian marshes and other Iraqi wetlands.
Tigris-Euphrates Alluvial Salt Marsh (PA0906)
National Geographic WildWorld profile of the Mesopotamian marshes.
Tigris-Euphrates Alluvial Salt Marsh (PA0906): Full profile
World Wildlife Fund/National Geographic profile of the Mesopotamian marshes, additional detail
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Weekday Magazine - Iraq: Selected Articles

• Iraq: U.N. Study Shows Ecological Catastrophe (Part 1): June 2001
• Iraq: Ancient Life of Marsh Arabs is Gone (Part 2): June 2001

From Wetlands to Drylands: The Destruction of the Mesopotamian Marshes
United Nations Environment Programme, Vital Water Graphics. An overview of marsh destruction and its consequences. Includes 1973 and 2000 maps that clearly show former vegetation zones and the precise location of the marshes within southern Iraq.
Earth Observatory: Mesopotamian Marshes
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) March 2001 satellite photo of the Al Hawizeh marshes on the southern border between Iran and Iraq.
Visible Earth: Vanishing Marshes of Mesopotamia
High-resolution satellite images of the Iraqi marshes, including animation showing how the marshes shrank in extent between 1973 and 2000.
The Ecology of War in Iraq and Kuwait
Earthshots satellite photos showing draining of southern marshes and Kuwaiti oil well fires.

Click here for our list of scientific papers, magazine articles, and books on the Mesopotamian marshes.