The Mesopotamian marshes are important for economic, social, and biodiversity values and have been home to indigenous human communities for millennia. They are regarded as a legendary site. This multi-authored book contains chapters written by world-renowned experts in their field. Both basic and applied information are made available, making the book a must-have for a wide spectrum of users. For example, an understanding of the natural and the social aspects of the marshes, as described here, is an obvious prerequisite for a pest management plan in this area. Scholars interested in wetlands can use this book as a guide to compare different wetlands areas in Asia. The bibliography section contains valuable references to the marsh areas and research in the field. This book serves as an up-to-date comprehensive source of information on different aspects of the southern marshes of Iraq and is aimed at academic scholars, environmentalists, and decision makers.

The Wetland Book is a comprehensive resource aimed at supporting the trans- and multidisciplinary research and practice which is inherent to this field. Aware both that wetlands research is on the rise and that researchers and students are often working or learning across several disciplines, The Wetland Book is a readily accessible online and print reference which will be the first port of call on key concepts in wetlands science and management. This easy-to-follow reference will allow multidisciplinary teams and transdisciplinary individuals to look up terms, access further details, read overviews on key issues and navigate to key articles selected by experts.

The Mesopotamian marshlands are part of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. This report examines the desiccation of the area over the last three decades, which has led to the disappearance of one of the world's greatest wetlands and the largest such ecosystem in southwest Asia. The basin's ecology has been drastically transformed due to the construction of more than thirty large dams, as well as associated drainage schemes. The report considers the devastating impact of these projects upon the area's landscape, hydrology and wildlife, as well as upon the livelihoods of the indigenous people. Recommendations are made which aim to promote basin-wide co-operation and to mitigate the impact of dams in the upper basin. The report finds that a long-term rehabilitation strategy for the restoration of the marshlands should strive for at least partial reflooding of the delta, whilst priority needs to be given to the conservation of remaining transboundary marshes straddling the Iran-Iraq border.

The authors document the diatom species composition and ecology in the two major water impoundments of Southern Iraq, the Mesopotamian Marshes and Shatt Al-Arab River. Based on light and scanning electron microscopy investigations, 293 taxa are documented, including the description of three new species. The taxa treated herein were collected from a variety of habitats over a period of 15 years. Diatom assemblages consist of a mixture of freshwater, brackish water and marine taxa. Many diatom taxa that have disappeared in recent years are also documented in this volume. One reason for their disappearance is the high salinization of the Mesopotamian Marshes and Shatt Al-Arab River areas resulting from extremely low freshwater discharge from Euphrates and Tigris Rivers which allowed the seawater front to reach these regions. Species belonging to previously recorded genera such as Eunotia and Diatoma are no longer present in this area. Therefore, this work also is a documentary record of the diatom flora of the wetlands of Southern Iraq during the past 15 years and not only provides an insight into the present state of research but preserves records and findings from taxa no longer present in Southern Iraq, due to human driven ecological impacts.

This important account investigates the ruin of the Mesopotamian marshes--historically one of the world's most important wetland environments--along with the decimation of an area inhabited, since the time of the Sumerians, by thousands of people living on artificial islands of mud and reeds and depending on sustainable fishing and farming. Located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in southern Iraq, the history of this important ecological and unique cultural jewel, which was destroyed under Saddam Hussein's reign through a series of constructed dams and water diversions designed to eradicate the remaining marsh dwellers, is analyzed at length. Interspersed with ancient Mesopotamian inscriptions and Old Testament quotations, this is a sobering account of the deliberate destruction of an environment for the purpose of ethnic cleansing. Features * Presents over 30 rare, never before published photographs from the 1934 anthropology expedition to the marshlands * Includes essays by photographer Nik Wheeler, human rights advocate Baroness Emma Nicholson, author Rasheed Al-Khayoun and ecologist Robert France about the present state of the marshlands * Contains more than 20 photographs of Mesopotamian artifacts from the Harvard collection

The gripping history of the devastation and resurrection of the Marshes of Iraq, an environmental treasure of the Middle East, now a protected site The Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq, once the largest wetland system on the planet, have been inhabited for thousands of years by the Ma‘dan, or Marsh Arabs, but they remain remote, isolated, and virtually unknown. In the early 1990s, the Saddam Hussein regime drained the Marshes and set out to destroy not only a critical ecosystem but a unique way of life as well. It stands as one of the greatest environmental and humanitarian disasters of the twentieth century. In the wake of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, local residents destroyed the earthen dams built to divert water from the wetlands and the Marshes were reflooded. Their future, however, is in peril. The Ghosts of Iraq’s Marshes tells the history of the creation, destruction, and revitalization of the Marshes and their inhabitants against the backdrop of the dramatic events that have convulsed Iraq in the past fifty years. It follows the life of Jassim al-Asadi, an irrigation engineer who was jailed and tortured under Saddam Hussein and who subsequently dedicated his life to the reflooding and restoration of the Marshes. He eventually contributed to the Marshes being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Jassim is eminently relatable, and the stories of his life and other marsh dwellers are infused with pathos, tragedy, humor, and passion.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This text is for those wishing to develop an understanding of a cultural legacy and lifestyle that survives today only as a fragmented cultural inheritance. The book illustrates how the economy and lives of the Ma'dan (Marsh Arabs) that spans over 5000 years remained similar to the ancient practices of their Sumerian forebears.