The Iraq Marshlands Restoration Program (IMRP) is an example of what U.S. government engagement can achieve, even in the most demanding of circumstances, when backed by appropriate contractor expertise and committed host-country institutions.The marshlands of southern Iraq were once a major flyway for billions of birds, a source of fish and dairy products for much of Iraq, and a natural filter for the waters of the Persian Gulf. But the wetlands were heavily drained as retaliation for their inhabitants' uprising against Saddam Hussein following the Gulf War. When Allied forces entered Iraq in 2003, the marshes were only 7 percent of their original size and the area's population had dwindled from 500,000 to 125,000.
In 2003, the international development firm DAI began work on the USAID-funded project, which aimed to tackle the environmental and developmental challenges facing the marshes and their people.
- Trained provincial government employees and university staff skilled in and able to apply the fundamentals of marsh restoration and wetland management;
- Identified committed provincial government employees who will carry forward agricultural and livestock efforts and a cadre of veterinary graduates, previously unemployed, who have experience working with livestock directly in marsh villages;
- Created ownership by the Marsh Arab tribes, as evidenced by their adoption of program interventions, particularly in agriculture, livestock, and public health; and
- Demonstrated the potential of a complex, multidisciplinary USAID program led and operated exclusively by Iraqis in-country, and cited by the Department of State as a model for others in sustainable development.
At the national level, IMRP developed the first hydrologic model for the Tigris and Euphrates river basin, established a marshlands monitoring system, re-established water and soil laboratories in the Ministry of Water Resources in Baghdad and at the University of Basra, and helped the government articulate a comprehensive marsh restoration policy. At the regional level, it worked in five priority areas: integrated marsh management, agriculture, livestock and dairy, fishing, and primary health care. To cite a few examples of IMRP's quantifiable achievements, the program: - Increased cultivated land for sorghum and barley from 4,860 hectares to 21,590 hectares;
- Planted eight nurseries with over 1,500 palm seedlings;
- Served 21,000 patients through two health clinics;
- Restocked 300,000 fish fingerlings; and
- Treated 9,972 animals through veterinary extension services.
Even during the most dangerous periods in the South, the IMRP team actively fulfilled its mandate, never ceasing its operations or its visits to the marshlands from Basra, despite great personal risk.
At its 2007 annual meeting, the American Anthropological Association awarded DAI's Peter Reiss and his team its prestigious Lourdes Arizpe Award, an honor that, in the association's words, "combines a practical component (results) with a knowledge-based component (advancement of knowledge)."
Today in southern Iraq, the majestic wetlands are returning. Fish have been restocked, and date palms, barley, and sorghum flourish. Approximately 58 percent of the marshes have been re-flooded, and wildlife has begun to return. And work in the marshlands continues. Iraqi scientists have taken over some of the program activities and are continuing the effort to bring the marshes back to life.
