2020 | Building Peace through Heritage
Fig.8 - The construction process of the dwellings, Pinterest
A review of the marshes development and transformation
For the purpose of reclaiming wetlands for agricultural development, the Iraqi government let the marshes
drain in the 1970s. The project was based on British ideas from the 1950s, when the British engineer
Frank Haigh made a report published by the Iraqi Irrigation Development Commission. Haigh proposed
to construct a series of canals, embankments, and sluices on Euphrates and Tigris in order to divert salty
and polluted water away from the irrigated area between the two rivers. Thereby, the marshlands could be
reclaimed for agriculture. The former approach provided by Dryzek can be seen in the attitude towards
the Iraqi marshes employed by the British in the 1950s. and later by the Iraqi regime: The marshes were
perceived as swamps; they could be utilized after draining. Later, there was Saddam Hussein’s plans for
the marshes, so-called ‘Plan of Action for the Marshes’ from 1987 (Mitchell, 2003). however, went far
beyond the British ideas. The British plans for the area from the 1950s had included a 565-km long canal
linking the Euphrates and Tigris in order to desalinate the Euphrates water and create fertile land,However,
Saddam Hussein’s project did not create arable land. During the 1990s, still bigger parts of the marshes
were drained beyond use. Prior to the outset of the Second Gulf War in March 2003 an estimated 93
percent of the marshes had been destroyed. The only partly intact marsh straddled the Iran-Iraq border and
was fed by river flows beyond Iraqi control. Today, we call the same areas wetlands, and the governments
have enacted legislation to protect their recognized value in providing habitat for wildlife, stabilization of
ecosystems, and absorption of pollutants. (UNEP, 2001),(Dryzek,1997),( Reed,2005).
Hence, there are a number of interrelated issues that affect the chances to rehabilitate the Iraqi marshes:
(UNEP, 2001)
• Problems regarding pollution, salt buildup in soils in the marshlands
• Lack of water and poor quality of water in the Euphrates and Tigris
• Iraqi policy concerning food self-sufficiency
• Large oil reserves in the marsh area
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