Bird Teams Flock to Iraq to Survey War's Impact

The possible consequences of armed conflict in the region were revealed during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. More than 30,000 overwintering seabirds and tens of thousands of waders were killed in the Arabian Gulf due to resulting oil spills.

The main focus of attention now will be the Mesopotamian marshes, an area of connected lakes, marshes, and floodplains along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

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Once one of the world's largest wetland ecosystems, the marshes bore the brunt of previous military campaigns. Heavy fighting took place here during the Iran-Iraq war, when large areas were burned and bombed. Napalm and chemical weapons were also used. Further damage followed with the first Gulf war.

Its aftermath proved even more destructive. Saddam's defeat in Kuwait and subsequent retreat north encouraged southern Iraq's largely Shi'ite Muslim population to revolt against his regime. They included the indigenous Marsh Arabs, who have lived in the marshes for 5,000 years. The revolt was crushed and Saddam had his revenge by setting about eradicating the marshlands that define the unique culture and identity of these people. In the process, many birds and other wildlife also lost their homelands.

Once twice the size of the Florida Everglades, since 1991 the wetlands have shrunk from 15,000 square kilometers (5,800 square miles) to just 50 square kilometers (20 square miles). The impacts of Saddam's drainage policy were exacerbated by the construction of large dams higher up the Tigris and Euphrates.

Environmental Disaster

"The tragic loss of the Mesopotamian marshlands stands out as one of the world's greatest environmental disasters," said Timothy Foresman, director of the United Nations Environment Programme's Division of Early Warning and Assessment.

UNEP, which is carrying out its own survey into the environmental impacts of the recent war, says the entire wetland area could be lost within three to five years if urgent action isn't taken to rehabilitate it.

Conservationists say the consequences of war and other pressures on Iraq's bird life extend far beyond the country's borders.

In its 2001 report, entitled The Mesopotamian Marshlands: Demise of an Ecosystem, UNEP warned: "The effects of marshland dessication is being felt across thousands of miles from the Arctic to southern Africa. An estimated 66 species of birds that occurred in the marshlands in internationally significant numbers are at risk."

BirdLife Agrees With Assessment

"The drainage of the marshlands destroyed the wintering and staging habitat of several million migratory waterbirds," Evans said. "These birds bred mainly in west Siberia, and wintered as far south as South Africa. The Basra reed warbler is an example. This small warbler breeds only in the Mesopotamian marshes and it migrates to spend the winter in east Africa. One monitoring station in Kenya has detected much smaller numbers of the species since the marshes were drained."

While the recent war is likely to have contributed to such problems, conservationists now hope the fall of Saddam's regime could mark a new dawn for the region's bird life.

"In terms of the Mesopotamian marshes, BirdLife hopes a new Iraqi government will be more open to protecting the environment and conserving wildlife," said Porter. "For its part, BirdLife is certainly open to working collaboratively with the new government and Iraqi conservationists to help them restore the marshes to at least some of their former glory."

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