2020 | Building Peace through Heritage
A Comparative Study of the Iraqi marshland’s dwellings for Potentials
Future Development Possibilities, Supporting the Tourism Aspect
Mina Al Ani 1 , Jie Shen 2
1
Zhejiang University, [email protected]
2
Zhejiang University, [email protected]
Abstract: Marshlands in Iraq are intriguing environments for scholars because of
their long history dating back to the Sumerian civilization, it’s an irregular clusters
of small islands constructed by alternating layers of reed mats and layers of mud
that dredged from the marsh bottom to constitute one of the most fascinating
regions of the world. In this study, it’s important to evaluate ecological and
cultural resiliency in response to desertification of the Mesopotamian Marshes of
Southern Iraq, and to get a better understanding of the built environment of Iraqi
marshlands and its relationship to the space in creating a place for Marsh Arabs. It
also provides a comprehensive image about the society of the marshlands which
sustains its continuity and adapts to its habitat to establish awareness about the
cultural landscape of Iraqi Marshes. As far as Environmental tourism is concerned,
it’s one of the important tourism demands due to its vital role in increasing national
income. The objective of this research is to fully analyses this area in terms of its
residential building,landscape surroundings and the inhabitants to figure out the
potentials of the marshland and discuss the possible developments approaches that
supports the tourism aspect.
Keywords: Marshlands, Iraqi tourism, Marshes dwellings, wetland areas.
Introduction
The Mesopotamian Marshes were once the largest wetlands in the Middle East and Western Eurasia
which is UNESCO’s World Heritage The Marshes formed from annual flood pulses of the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers. In the 1970s, the Marshes covered between 15,000 and 20,000 km 2 of water surface
and vegetation The long- term resiliency of the southern Mesopotamian landscape provided abundant
resources to humans since the time of the Ubaid- Sumerian culture,The indigenous people of the
Marshes, the Marsh Arabs, have practiced sustainable traditional resource management for thousands
of years, developing an iconic way of life that ties them intimately to their wetland landscape. A new
plan for the marshes is urgently needed to restore the environment and permit the return of refugees
and others who might settle there and resume their distinctive way of life. For restoration models,
Mesopotamia is a homeland whose pastoral and fishing communities, until recently, provided large
amounts of food and fiber for all of Iraq. On the environmental front, tourism is an attractive factor
for tourists and satisfy their desires in terms of visiting natural places.Different and learn about their
topography and their plants and wildlife, (Hamad, 2009) in addition to visiting local communities to
learn about their customs and traditions. And we believe in the importance of studies related to natural
resources and the possibility of employing them and investing them in the emergence and development
of one Types of tourism which is ecotourism, this research came to try to clarify and develop the reality
of environmental tourism in Iraq.
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