PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 97: Restoration Ecology II: Rivers and Forests.
Presiding: J Weishampel
Friday, August 8. 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM, SITCC Meeting Room 203.
Eden again: A conceptual restoration plan for the Mesopotamian marshlands of southern Iraq.
Stevens, Michelle*,1, Alwash, Suzie1, Alwash, Azzam1, Crisman, Thomas 2, Zalidis, George3, Partow, Hassan4, Evans, Mike5, Coad, Brian6, 1 Eden Again Project, Long Beach, CA, USA2 Director, Center for Wetlands, Gainsville, Florida, USA3 Greek Biotope Wetland Centre, Thesaliniki, Greece4 UNEP-GRID Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland5 BirdLife International, Cambridge, United Kingdom6 Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, CAnada
ABSTRACT- The Eden Again Project is developing scientific guidelines for a conceptual restoration plan for the Mesopotamian Marhshlands of southern Iraq, at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates river basins. An international Technical Advisory Panel was convened to develop scientific guidelines for restoring these marshes, which historically covered 15,000-20,000 km2 and are now drained and dessicated to less than 90% of their original area. Regional adverse impacts include deterimental impacts to Perisan Gulf fisheries, possible extinciton of 21 globally endangered or endemic species, major reductions in the West Siberian-Caspian-Nile flyway, regional climate change, and loss of culturally significant resources. Restoration planning is based on a hydrologic model developed with satellite imagery, available biological data primarily gathered prior to 1980, interviews with exiled southern Iraqi people, and analogs from adjacent areas. The primary goal is to utilize available water resources to demonstrate a mosaic of opportunities for restoration as one strategy to be considered by the people of Iraq.
Key words: restoration, Mesopotamia, wetland, rivers