their food through the ration program instituted under the “Food-for-Oil” program.
A proud people became slaves to the power of the government and all resistance ceased.
The effects of drying the marshes were not limited to the Marsh Arabs of course.
The Kuwaiti Institute for Scientific Research indicated that the drying of the marshes
caused the temperature to increase locally by five degrees centigrade and worse still,
all the silts and clays that used to be deposited in the marshes (not to say anything
about the heavy metals and organic matter) were now being deposited in the Gulf
covering the coral and oyster beds that Kuwaitis made their living off before the
discovery of oil. Fish catches and shrimp landings were also reduced by 50 percent and
the migratory birds had to go elsewhere to find a rest stop. A local indigenous bird,
the Basra Reed Warbler, was found as far away as Israel in its attempt to find a suitable
habitat. It is on this basis that the United Nations Environmental Program called the
drying of the marshes “one of the world’s greatest environmental disasters of the last
century.”
Prior to 2003 , “experts” said that the marshes could not be restored as the soils had
changed chemically or, alternatively, that the seed bank had been exhausted by the
drying, or worse still that the Marsh Arabs did not want the marshes restored as they
had become used to life in cities and wanted the trappings of modern life. After the
toppling of Saddam in April 2003 , however, this conjecture was challenged by facts on
the ground. Surviving residents began breaking the embankments and opening the
floodgates to allow water back into the marshlands. Re-flooded areas began sprouting
reeds within six months, defying the predictions of experts.
It turns out that the Marsh Arabs did want the marshes back and acted with their
own hands – literally. These people did not restore the marshes because they loved the
environment per se, but rather they restored the marshes to regain a way of life that
used the marshes as an independent source of food and income. When a people are
dependent on the existence of a healthy marsh to live, they act to protect the wetlands.
One of the Marsh Arabs I encountered upon return to Iraq told me that it was pride
and self-respect that motivated him to flood a portion of the marsh close to his original
village. He said, “I do not have to beg for daily work to feed my children. I can use
my own hands to fish and harvest reeds so I can afford to feed my children.” This is the
basis for a model of sustainable restoration. As long as the people of the marshes can
depend on them for their livelihood, the marshes and nature will have their defenders.
It is tempting to see the story of the marshes as a sort of phoenix rising out of the
ashes of destruction, but it is not all smooth sailing. In the 1990 s Turkey began a
massive program of building dams on the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates,
and it continues on its quest to harness the energy of nature. It is ironic that the world
views dams as a source of sustainable renewable and supposedly clean energy. While it
may be true that the hydroelectric power generated from dams reduces CO 2 pro-
duction (as compared to generating electricity from fossil fuel), however the effects
downstream are devastating to natural systems.
One of the direct results of the dam building upstream is the loss of the flood-
ing cycle, the pulse that drove the natural life rhythm of the Marsh Arabs and the
nature on which they depend. The size of the restored marshes varied from a high of
65 percent in 2008 to as low as 35 percent in 2010. The water reaching the marshes is
no longer full of silt and clay, but rather is salty as the farmers in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and
Iran still use flood irrigation systems that result in the generation of a huge amount of
–– Postscript ––