Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09BAGHDAD960
2009-04-08 07:47:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

WHO'S WHO IN MARSHLAND RESTORATION (PART 2 OF 2)

Tags:  ECON EAID SOCI SENV EWWT KGHG IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #0960/01 0980747
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 080747Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2591
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0062
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0152
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0087
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0780
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000960 

AIDAC
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/I, OES/ENRC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID SOCI SENV EWWT KGHG IZ
SUBJECT: WHO'S WHO IN MARSHLAND RESTORATION (PART 2 OF 2)

-------
SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAGHDAD 000960

AIDAC
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/I, OES/ENRC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID SOCI SENV EWWT KGHG IZ
SUBJECT: WHO'S WHO IN MARSHLAND RESTORATION (PART 2 OF 2)

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (SBU) Marsh restoration is a nexus of delicate political,
economic, and cultural issues, spanning three provinces and
12 Iraqi ministries. While only a few tens of thousands of
Iraqis still lived in the marshes area in early 2003,
estimates are that over 150,000 people have returned, with
many more willing to come back if additional services such as
schools and hospitals were available. Within the Government
of Iraq (GOI),primary responsibility to formulate policy and
execute marsh water management projects rests with the
Ministry of Water Resources Center for the Restoration of the
Iraqi Marshes. By far the most active international partners
in restoration efforts are the Italian Ministry of
Environment and Territories and an Iraqi nongovernmental
organization, Nature Iraq. USG support to Iraq's marsh
restoration efforts has thus far lacked adequate
coordination, with no clear overarching policy direction.
Embassy believes that the South Florida Water Management
District (SFWMD--lead agency for Everglades restoration) can
make a unique contribution to Iraq's efforts, based on the
Iraqi marshland's striking resemblance to the experience of
the Florida Everglades. A small technically-focused capacity
building relationship with the SFWMD could be an inexpensive
way to provide highly symbolic, yet valuable and effective,
support to Iraq's marsh restoration efforts. This cable is
part two in a two-part series on the Iraqi marshes. End
summary.

--------------
Government of Iraq Entities
--------------


2. (SBU) While numerous ministries are playing a role in GOI
efforts to restore the marshes, primary responsibility to
formulate policy and execute marsh water management projects
rests with the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) Center for
the Restoration of the Iraqi Marshes (CRIM). Established in
2003, CRIM is presently led by Director General (DG) Abdul
Kadhem Lahmood, an engineer who has been with MoWR for over
28 years, including under Saddam when the ministry was known
as the Ministry of Irrigation. (Note: Kadhem is an

experienced and capable technocrat who has also served as DG
of three other MoWR Directorates since 2003; his nomination
to his current post gives some sense of the importance the
Ministry places on marsh issues. End note.) The Ministry of
Higher Education and Scientific Research conducts marsh
research at several universities, most notably, the Marsh
Research Center in Dhi Qar University. The Ministry of
Environment is supposed to play a monitoring role (measuring
water volume, flow, and quality) as well as managing
wildlife. However, it is yet to actively engage in these
responsibilities. In the Council of Representatives, the
Committee on Agriculture, Water, and Marshes oversees
wetlands issues. Although there is a Minister of State for
Marshes, Hassan Al-Sari, the position is largely an honorary
one.


3. (SBU) CRIM DG Kadhem told EconOffs on March 18 that while
some media reports claim CRIM is an inter-ministerial body,
it is in fact only a MoWR entity. He also noted that there
is a draft law pending before the Council of Ministers to
constitute an inter-ministerial "Marsh Construction
Committee" to coordinate overall marsh policy and execution.
The committee would be led by Minister of State for Marshes
Hassan Al-Sari, would include 12 ministries, and would have
QHassan Al-Sari, would include 12 ministries, and would have
an independent budget and mandate to address housinQpI%M%=9Qfor the future of the marshes, and
continues to work closely with IMET and the Italian
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Dhi Qar to implement
its marsh plans. IMET funded NI to perform a feasibility
study of the marsh region, including designs for an
integrated system of gates and regulators to control water
flow into the marshes which now forms the nucleus of GOI
marsh restoration plans. Most recently, IMET funded 25 water
monitoring stations in the marsh region, 12 of which have
been installed. NI and the Government of Italy are also
actively working to establish Iraq's first national park,
called the Mesopotamian Marshlands National Park, a 1400
square-kilometer region to support scientific research,
cultural awareness (including a museum),and restoration of
biodiversity. Alwash told EmbOff that the hurdles to these
efforts lay mostly within the structural disconnect between
the government in Baghdad and the three provincial
governments in whose jurisdiction the marshes lie.

--------------
U.S. Assistance Programs
--------------


6. (SBU) The USG has also contributed several key components
to marsh restoration efforts. CRIM and Nature Iraq depended
heavily on the 2004-2006 USAID-funded USD 4 million Iraq
Marshlands Restoration Program, part of the Agriculture
Reconstruction and Development Program for Iraq (ARDI),as
the foundation for their current restoration plans. USAID
support for this activity ended with completion of the ARDI
Project in 2006. Since 2006, however, USG programs related
to the marshes have been limited and not fully coordinated.
The Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) has funded
numerous major water resource management projects throughout
Iraq, many of which, directly or indirectly, affect the flow
of water in the marsh region. This includes a U.S Army Corps
of Engineers hydrologic computer model of the
Tigris-Euphrates river basin, together with a special module
to model water flow in the marshes which the MoWR has used to
help define Iraq's marsh restoration goals. Multi-National
Force-Iraq as well as the Regional Embassy Office (REO) in
Basrah and the Dhi Qar and Maysan Provincial Reconstruction
Teams (PRTs) have also undertaken numerous projects in the
marsh region, most of them relatively small and focused on
economic recovery.


7. (SBU) REO Basrah helped arrange an Iraqi-led marshlands
conference in Basrah in January, 2009, focused on integrating
provincial and national marsh restoration efforts, with
particular emphasis on economic development. With thin
participation from the national level, however, conference
results appeared to underscore rather than bridge the
national-provincial divide. (Note: Provincial attendee's
frustration with what they perceived to be a lack of
national-level interest oddly did not equally extend to
Qnational-level interest oddly did not equally extend to
Basrah Governorate's clear lack of initiative in developing
Basrah's own marsh areas. End note.)

--------------
Marshlands Recovering, Residents Returning
--------------


8. (SBU) Iraqis living in the marsh region required no
direction from local or federal authorities when, in spring
2003, they "voted with their hands," in the words of Alwash,
and broke levees to re-flood small areas of the marshes.
While only a few tens of thousands of Iraqis still lived in
the areas immediately bordering the marshes at the time, NI
estimates that over 150,000 people have returned, with many
more willing to come back if additional services such as
schools and hospitals were available. EmbOffs visited each
of the 3 marshes in November 2008 and witnessed a robust
marsh with hundreds of homes sprung up along road sides;
herds of water buffalo grazing in deep marsh water; reed beds
over 12 feet tall; and abundant waterfowl, including
predators feeding on small fish. Even marsh areas re-flooded

BAGHDAD 00000960 002 OF 003


assistance through imagery analysis under its Iraq Marshland
Observation System (IMOS) program. (Note: UNEP's analysis is
based on imagery provided through NASA's Rapid Response
Project. End note.) The Canadian International Development
Agency also sponsored a 2 million USD program in 2004-07,
called the Canada-Iraq Marsh Initiative, to assist Iraq in
developing a national-scale marsh management program.


5. (SBU) NI (run by Iraqi-born U.S. citizen Azzam Alwash)
launched its "Eden Again" project in 2003 in hopes of
creating a common vision for the future of the marshes, and
continues to work closely with IMET and the Italian
Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Dhi Qar to implement
its marsh plans. IMET funded NI to perform a feasibility
study of the marsh region, including designs for an
integrated system of gates and regulators to control water
flow into the marshes which now forms the nucleus of GOI
marsh restoration plans. Most recently, IMET funded 25 water
monitoring stations in the marsh region, 12 of which have
been installed. NI and the Government of Italy are also
actively working to establish Iraq's first national park,
called the Mesopotamian Marshlands National Park, a 1400
square-kilometer region to support scientific research,
cultural awareness (including a museum),and restoration of
biodiversity. Alwash told EmbOff that the hurdles to these
efforts lay mostly within the structural disconnect between
the government in Baghdad and the three provincial
governments in whose jurisdiction the marshes lie.

--------------
U.S. Assistance Programs
--------------


6. (SBU) The USG has also contributed several key components
to marsh restoration efforts. CRIM and Nature Iraq depended
heavily on the 2004-2006 USAID-funded USD 4 million Iraq
Marshlands Restoration Program, part of the Agriculture
Reconstruction and Development Program for Iraq (ARDI),as
the foundation for their current restoration plans. USAID
support for this activity ended with completion of the ARDI
Project in 2006. Since 2006, however, USG programs related
to the marshes have been limited and not fully coordinated.
The Iraq Transition Assistance Office (ITAO) has funded
numerous major water resource management projects throughout
Iraq, many of which, directly or indirectly, affect the flow
of water in the marsh region. This includes a U.S Army Corps
of Engineers hydrologic computer model of the
Tigris-Euphrates river basin, together with a special module
to model water flow in the marshes which the MoWR has used to
help define Iraq's marsh restoration goals. Multi-National
Force-Iraq as well as the Regional Embassy Office (REO) in
Basrah and the Dhi Qar and Maysan Provincial Reconstruction
Teams (PRTs) have also undertaken numerous projects in the
marsh region, most of them relatively small and focused on
economic recovery.


7. (SBU) REO Basrah helped arrange an Iraqi-led marshlands
conference in Basrah in January, 2009, focused on integrating
provincial and national marsh restoration efforts, with
particular emphasis on economic development. With thin
participation from the national level, however, conference
results appeared to underscore rather than bridge the
national-provincial divide. (Note: Provincial attendee's
frustration with what they perceived to be a lack of
national-level interest oddly did not equally extend to
Qnational-level interest oddly did not equally extend to
Basrah Governorate's clear lack of initiative in developing
Basrah's own marsh areas. End note.)

--------------
Marshlands Recovering, Residents Returning
--------------


8. (SBU) Iraqis living in the marsh region required no
direction from local or federal authorities when, in spring
2003, they "voted with their hands," in the words of Alwash,
and broke levees to re-flood small areas of the marshes.
While only a few tens of thousands of Iraqis still lived in
the areas immediately bordering the marshes at the time, NI
estimates that over 150,000 people have returned, with many
more willing to come back if additional services such as
schools and hospitals were available. EmbOffs visited each
of the 3 marshes in November 2008 and witnessed a robust
marsh with hundreds of homes sprung up along road sides;
herds of water buffalo grazing in deep marsh water; reed beds
over 12 feet tall; and abundant waterfowl, including
predators feeding on small fish. Even marsh areas re-flooded

BAGHDAD 00000960 003 OF 003


as late as May 2007 appeared healthy, showing a remarkable
ability to quickly rebound. Notably, the Hawizeh marsh,
which has never been fully dried out, appeared healthy but
showed no signs of human activity, present or past. CRIM DG
Kadhem said that this is due to the lack of services
available in that region along the Iranian border.

-------------- --------------
Next Steps: Florida Everglades / Iraq Marsh Cooperation
-------------- --------------


9. (SBU) Marsh restoration is a nexus of delicate political,
economic, and cultural issues, spanning three provinces and
12 GOI ministries. With improving security, marsh issues are
also receiving a burgeoning amount of press attention. USG
support to Iraq's marsh restoration efforts has thus far
lacked adequate coordination, with no clear overarching
policy direction. We recommend that the Department promote
an interagency effort to consider what contribution the USG
could best make and how such assistance fits within the
framework of overall USG engagement directly with Iraq and in
the context of regional and global environmental policy. In
this context, Embassy believes that the South Florida Water
Management District (SFWMD--lead agency for Everglades
restoration) can make a unique contribution to Iraq's
efforts, based on the Iraqi marshland's striking resemblance
to the experience of the Florida Everglades. Like Iraq's
marshlands, the Everglades was a sheet-flow wetlands system
that a misdirected land reclamation scheme largely destroyed.
SFWMD works closely with the USACE in the Everglades, an
organization with significant experience with Iraq's water
management issues. A small technically-focused capacity
building relationship with the SFWMD to assist the GOI with
water quality management and biodiversity in wetlands
recovery could be an inexpensive way to provide highly
symbolic, yet valuable and effective, support to Iraq's marsh
restoration efforts. Such modest U.S. support would
emphasize the GOI's leadership on this issue, exemplified by
CRIM's success thus far in building consensus and
constructing a technically sound plan for marsh water
management.
BUTENIS