Links:

“Eden Again – Staff Biographies”:http://www.edenagain.org/staff.html (for bios of Suzie and Azzam Alwash)

“”Many of Iraq’s Marsh Arabs are reluctant to go back to their ancient lifestyle,”":http://forests.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=31018 by Scheherezade Faramarzi (Associated Press, 22 April 2004)

“”Twilight People: Iraq’s Marsh Inhabitants,”":http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/viewMedia.php/prmTemplateID/8/prmID/4458 by Sayyed Nadeem Kazmi and Stuart M. Leiderman (Carnegie Council of Ethics and International Affairs, Spring 2004)

“”Partial Restoration of Iraqi Marshlands May Be Feasible: Experts and project supervisors testify before Congress,”":http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2004/Feb/26-503106.html by David Shelby (Washington File Staff Writer, 25 February 2004)

“Iraqis reclaim their ancient wetlands,”":http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994217 by James Randerson (New Scientist, 1 October 2003)

“”Iraq’s Marshes Renewed,”":http://www.geotimes.org/oct03/feature_marshes.html by Naomi Lubick (GeoTimes, October, 2003)

“”California Couple Launch Effort to Resurrect Iraq’s Dessicated [sic] Marshlands,”":http://www.wrmea.com/archives/sept03/0309034.html by Pat McDonnell Twair (Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September 2003, pages 34-35)

“Chaparral Biome”:http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/chaparral.htm (BluePlanetBiomes.org)

Author’s Notes:

Alwash believes that about half of the original marsh area can be restored, given the amount of water available. He hopes to work with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to set aside even more water for restoration.

Excerpts from an interview with Azzam Alwash:

-So when did you return to Iraq?

I came back June 18 [2003], was my first time back in Iraq in 25 years at that time. And I was shocked to see my marshes. Soon enough you will see the pictures on our web site of how it was in June of 2003 and how it was in 1975 and how it is today.

I remember sitting watching the central marshes – they were like a dry desert, there was nothing but chaparral – just an ugly, ugly sight. Especially for me who has experienced this area in its full glory. I remember reeds that extended to the sky. I mean, remember that I was only 12-13-14 years old and things looked in much bigger proportion than today. in my memory, the reeds extended to the sky – you could hardly see the sky. And the fish were abundant. The birds were everywhere. And then when I saw it last June, it was crushing. It’s one thing seeing pictures from satellites and seeing the difference. But it’s a lot bigger impact when you see it on the ground.

Fortunately though, today, it’s a much different story. I have what I call my little pieces of heaven – Anarda [sp?] marsh, Ankuzira [sp?] marsh and Abu Zerig [sp?] marsh – they’re places that have come back in a vibrant way. They have come back – they are like the marshes of my memory. And it’s where I go to gain my sanity back – you know, every time I get tired of the political maneuvering and the noise and the congestion of Baghdad I go down to my marshes. And one afternoon is enough to regain your sanity when you hear the frogs croaking and the birds flying and the fish in the water. It’s just a wonderful place.

I wish, I hope and one of my dreams is in five years we’ll be leading some ecotourists and adventurists into this area to show them the ruins of Babylon and the ruins of Ur and the cradle of civilization, of western civilization and take them on a kayak tour into some of the floating islands in the middle of the marshes that are coming back.

It’s a story of hope. I can tell your listeners that the restoration of the marshes is one of the highlights of Iraq of today. It really symbolizes the rebirth of Iraq as a nation, the rise of the phoenix out of the ashes as it were. The marshes are in fact the symbol of southern Iraq. It symbolizes western civilization, Ur was on the edge of these marshes – and to see them come back in front of your eyes and to know that to a certain extent, you’re responsible for them coming back, brings a certain amount of pride and a lot of joy to yours truly.

-So tell me more about your specific research.

Well, people tell me when are you going to be done with your project? And I can tell them, I can consider myself to have done my duty when I can take a kayak trip from Kut and land in Chibayish (sp?) two weeks later. And I’m planning to do the first try of that project next March – it’s not going to be complete – but it’s going to be my first exploration into the deepest part of the Marshes and to try to see to prove that there is connectivity between the Tigris and Chibayish (sp?) and to make sure that in fact, we’re running on the right path. In two years I plan to take a very big tour. It’s not gonna be five years, it’s going to be two years. I promise you.

…

And we go out once a month for about a week to ten days depending on how successful we are. And we go and monitor, at this point in time, we’re monitoring two marshes that have come back in a vibrant way. And what we’re trying to do is learn from nature what works. … the question is, why are these areas coming back the way they are? The reeds have grown to three meters. Fish is abundant. And so by learning from nature what works, we try to then take these lessons and then replicate them elsewhere in the marshes to try to recreate the conditions so that the other places of the marshes that are not recovering as well, that are stumbling in the recovery, and there are plenty of those, we will try to recreate these conditions that are conducive for the regrowth and the rebirth of the marshes.

…

My biggest hope of course, for Iraq to reach an agreement with Turkey to dedicate enough water from the headwaters of the Euphrates and the Tigris for the restoration of the marshes and not for usage elsewhere. If that happens I am the happiest man on Earth – that means we have secured enough water for the restoration of the marshes till kingdom come – if in fact we secure such an agreement. That is my long-term goal to work on the political process to make Iraq and Turkey achieve such an agreement. And I would, I don’t know what I tell you. If in fact we could achieve an agreement for four billion cubic meters of water a year just for the marshes, that means all of my marshes are going to be back alive – 20,000 square kilometers of a World Heritage site. We can dedicate it to the humanity of the world, to western civilization. This is where Abraham was born. This is where writing was invented. This is where agriculture was invented. And what a wonderful world it would be if we declared the entire marshes a World Heritage Site protected by UNESCO and with obligations on all the countries involved to dedicate enough water resources to keep her alive.

-You’re so optimistic!

Well, if I were a glass half-empty kind of person, I wouldn’t be involved with this. You’d have to be an optimist to be involved when I got involved. Five years ago, there was not hope – we had a what do you call it, a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding. And guess what, persistence pays my friend. I don’t know, it’s just that – I tell you, I must have been a very good person in my last lifetime because I don’t deserve the happiness I have right now. It’s exciting times. It’s so exciting to live your dream. I’ve let go of a very secure career in the United States, I left my family behind in the United States for the chance to come live in hell as it were, but I’m working on my dream and it makes up for everything else. There’s something to be said for getting up every morning and being excited about going to your workplace.

The following individual was interviewed for today’s show. Our thanks to:

Azzam Alwash
Project Director of Eden Again, a project of the Iraq Foundation
Baghdad, Iraq