Hawizeh Marshes
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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Mesopotamian Marshes. (Discuss) |
The Hawizeh Marshes are a complex of marshes that straddle the Iraq and Iran border. The marshes are fed by the Tigris River in Iraq and Karkheh River in Iran. The Hawizeh marsh is critical to the survival of the Central and Hammar marshes, which also make up the Mesopotamian Marshes, because they are a refuge for species that may recolonize or reproduce into the other marshlands.
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[edit] History & Significance
The Hawizeh Marsh is the home of a long, cultural history stretching thousands of years back to the Sumerians. In addition, it has been the refuge for people and biota in recent decades of conflict between Iraq and its neighboring nations (e.g. the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s - more specifically the 1984 Battle of the Marshes). The Hawizeh has also been the source of a fish that once fed much of Iraq in addition to a source for reeds used in paper production and dairy feeding. The Hawizeh Marshes support also many local people through agricultural production in the grasslands around its perimeter.[1] The Hawizeh marsh is also the permanent home to Marsh Arabs.
[edit] Characteristics
The Hawizeh Marshes stretched between Basrah, Iraq to the south and Amarah, Iraq to the Northwest. They are also 85 km west of Ahvaz, Iraq. The Hawizeh Marshes are mainly fed by the Tigris River and Karkheh River. Much like the Hammar and Central, the Hawizeh is a delicate ecosystem. About 80-85% of the Hawizeh Marshes is in Iraq. Seasonal wetlands in the northerly reaches of Hawizeh Marsh, called the Sanaf, that are highly saline due to repeating cycles of evaporation and annual drying, are enriched by these winter rain waters. These marshes hold and slowly release these waters later in the year that eventually flow south through Hawizeh to the Shat Al-Arab in the summer and fall months and on to the Gulf.[1] The Hawizeh Marshes have survived best in the Mesopotamian Marshes and are often used to help reproduce flora, fauna and species in other marshes.
[edit] Draining
During the 1980s, further extensive drainage occurred under the leadership of the Saddam Regime, creating a military buffer zone with Iran. Much of the Hawizeh was dried, reducing the natural extension of the marsh and converting it mainly to a lake-dominated system. In the early 1990s, the former regime cut off the water supply to the Marsh, build more embankments inside the marsh itself and burned reed beds. In the end, Hawizeh was reduced to an area of less than 700 km2.[1]
[edit] Partial Recovery
Following the removal of the Saddam Regime in 2003, local people set about breaking the embankments within the interior of the Hawizeh Marsh. This increased the area to about 900 km2 of marshlands by 2004. Reed beds have been slow to take hold in these newly flooded areas in comparison to a similar situation that saw re-flooding of marshlands in the Central area to the west of Hawizeh. This difference in reed recovery has been attributed to the shallower water depths (generally under 1 m in depth) affected by the western embankments that still protect agricultural lands adjacent to Hawizeh, as compared to Central Marshes (Iraq) where water depths are deeper.[1]
The Government of Iraq has taken tangible steps toward this restoration. This includes major efforts to: reintroduce water in degraded parts of the southern marshes; cooperate in establishing an environmental monitoring and research program; set in motion planning for a National Park in the Central Marshes area of southern Iraq; and to ensure the nation’s accession to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in October 2007 that included designation of Hawizeh Marsh as a Wetland of International Importance.[1]
[edit] References
Coordinates: 31°32′32″N 47°42′24″E / 31.54222°N 47.70667°E
