The people of the Iraqi Marshlands are heirs to a culture that can be traced back thousands of years. It is a culture based on water and reeds, hunting and fishing. They have occupied wetlands that have had a unique ecology, with birds, fish, animals and plants that cannot be found elsewhere. The area supports the entire world population of two species: the Basra Reed Warbler and the Iraq Babbler, which among many other indigenous species, are threatened. The Marshes of the Haur al-Hammar and al-Huwaizah used to provide habitat for two thirds of the wintering wildfowl of the Middle East. They are a vital staging area for the waterfowl migrating between breeding grounds in western Siberia and Central Asia and winter quarters in Africa. The Marshlands, its people and they way of life have been celebrated in books by Wilfred Thesiger, Gavin Maxwell and Gavin Young.

The Marshlands have supported a traditional way of life, maintained by the Marsh Arabs for millennia. The recorded history of the region and the world begins with the history of Sumer which documents the reed houses (mudhif) and the long canoe (mashuf) for over 5,000 years. Over this period the Marsh Dwellers developed a unique capacity to manage and benefit from the natural wetland environment. They live on islands in the Marshes entirely constructed of reeds, and use these to build cathedral-like homes.

For hundreds of years the Marshlands have provided a sanctuary to people fleeing from repressive regimes, as well as smugglers and bandits. During the twentieth century changes affected the way of life of the largely Shi’ite inhabitants. Many left the area for a more prosperous life in Baghdad and the oil fields of Northern Iraq.
But the greatest changes came in the 1990s. After the war for the liberation of Kuwait an uprising in the south against the regime of Saddam Hussein was brutally suppressed. The government forcibly transferred people, destroyed villages and introduced massive engineering works that drained the Marshes.

Of the three main areas of Marshlands, two – Hammar and al-Qurnah – have suffered 85% degradation. The third, that straddles the frontier with Iran and is partly watered by Iranian rivers, has undergone 65% degradation.

Most of the Marshdwellers fled, many into neighbouring Iran. The social and economic base of a community was destroyed. This destruction has been in addition to all the other privations that have been the experience of all Iraqis.

Since the end of the American-led war of Marsh 2003 and the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime there has been calls to bring Saddam to account for human rights abuses, crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against the Marshdwellers.

Among the most important questions of post-war Iraq is the restoration of the marshlands. How technically feasible is this? How desirable is it? What are the wishes of the people of the Marshlands? Marshdwellers should have the choice of resuming a way of life which they were forced to abandon.

In addition to reviving agriculture and fisheries there are also possibilities of tourism, both traditional and ecotourism, in the area. The Garden of Eden was located here. Abraham’s city of Ur is at the edge of the marshes and the prophet Ezra has his tomb south of al-Amara. The city of Basra has some interesting souks and nineteenth century houses. Future investment should yield dividends.

But the area could also in the next generation be totally transformed – vast oil reserves in southern Iraq, not least in the Marshlands area could change the economy of the region. It is suggested that the untapped oil reserves in southern Iraq could amount to 3.9 million barrels a day, twice Abu Dhabi’s reserves and nearly half those of Saudi Arabia.

However, it will be of paramount importance that the vulnerable people of the marshes play a full part in the developments of their homelands. They should not be marginalized by a future Baghdad government or by the juggernaut of international commercial interests. They have suffered disproportionately in the past and should not lose hope in the future.