The Chibaish government and environmental organizations renew the demand to declare the marshes a di

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[size=52]The Chibaish government and environmental organizations renew the demand to declare the marshes a disaster area[/size]

[size=45]Dhi Qar / Hussein Al-Amel[/size]
[size=45]Environmental officials and organizations in Dhi Qar renewed their calls to declare the marshes a disaster area. While they confirmed the dryness of more than 90 percent of the marsh areas and the displacement of village residents and buffalo breeders, they stressed the need for the local and central governments to intervene to dig artesian wells and compensate those affected by the drought.[/size]
[size=45]The mayor of Chibayish District, Kifah Shinawa Al-Asadi, said in a statement to Al-Mada, “There are only ponds and small streams remaining in the marsh areas with water with high levels of salinity and pollution,” indicating that “the quantities of water reaching the marsh areas are not sufficient for the purpose and do not cover the needs of the local population.” Of drinking water.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Asadi spoke about “the drought of 90 percent of the areas of the Chibayish Marshes, which are the center of the Iraqi marshes, and the migration of local residents who lost their basic sources of livelihood,” noting that “the areas that were subjected to drought have become deserted desert areas.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that “the water resources departments are working to cleanse the streams and maintain them from time to time, but these solutions remain inadequate without providing sufficient quantities of water.” He added that “the resources departments are cooperating with us in preparing mechanisms to cleanse the stream, but the water is not suitable for human and animal consumption.” .[/size]
[size=45]He stressed the need for central intervention to provide water, dig wells, install water desalination plants, compensate local residents affected by drought, and support buffalo breeders with fodder, stressing that “buffalo breeders are exposed to serious losses estimated at billions of dinars.”[/size]
[size=45]The mayor of Chibayish renewed the demand for the marshes to be declared disaster areas, pointing out that he had requested this 6 months ago and renews his demand for this because drought and desertification have begun to creep into all life in the marsh areas. After the marshes were a green paradise, they have now become a scene for dust storms, pointing out that “the water crisis cannot It is limited to the Chibayish district only, but includes the Islah district and other areas where water levels have declined in the rivers feeding them.”[/size]
[size=45]In turn, the environmental expert at Nature Iraq, Jassim Al-Assadi, stressed the necessity of declaring the marshland areas disaster areas, providing support to buffalo breeders, fishermen, and grass and reed harvesters, and providing their basic living requirements to remain alive under conditions beset by cruelty on all sides.[/size]
[size=45]In an interview with Al-Mada, Al-Asadi expressed his astonishment at “the government’s approach to ignoring the marsh areas and not caring about what is happening to their residents, who are suffering greatly after they lost their main sources of livelihood and their life opportunities declined in the marsh areas that are beginning to desertify.”[/size]
[size=45]The Nature Iraq organization concerned with the environment of the Iraqi marshes revealed in mid-October that the marsh areas in southern Iraq had declined to only 7 percent, confirming that water levels in the rivers feeding the marsh areas had dropped to their lowest levels.[/size]
[size=45]Last August, local officials and community organizations in Dhi Qar warned of high rates of population displacement resulting from drought and water scarcity in the marshes and rural areas, noting its impact on the life of cities.[/size]
[size=45]Meanwhile, in mid-July 2022, officials and environmental organizations called on the local and central governments to declare the marshes a disaster area. They confirmed the drying up of most of its areas, the death of fish and living organisms, and the displacement of village residents and buffalo breeders. They called for the creation of a supreme body to manage the file linked to the Council of Ministers.[/size]
[size=45]The demands of officials and environmental and community organizations come in light of the worst drought wave that the country is experiencing and Dhi Qar Governorate, which has begun to lose large areas of its marshes and agricultural lands and is facing a large population displacement among farmers, fishermen and livestock breeders, who are now facing great risks that are beginning to reflect negatively on the overall economic, social and environmental life. It threatens them with deprivation of their main source of income.[/size]
[size=45]In conjunction with the seventh anniversary of the marshes’ accession to the World Heritage List, officials and environmental organizations in Dhi Qar revealed on (July 17, 2023) the drying up of more than 85% of the marshes’ area and the decline in life opportunities in those areas that were described as the Garden of Eden.[/size]
[size=45]In mid-2016, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) approved the inclusion of the marshes and their archaeological areas on the World Heritage List after all members voted in approval.[/size]
[size=45]According to the decision of UNESCO, the marshes and archaeological sites that were included on the World Heritage List are Ur, Eridu, the Hamar Marsh, Al-Hawizeh, the Central Marshes in Dhi Qar and Maysan, Al-Warka in Al-Muthanna, and the Al-Himar Al-Sharqi Marsh in Basra.[/size]
[size=45]The marshes constitute one-fifth of the area of ​​Dhi Qar Governorate, and they are distributed among ten administrative units out of the 20 that the governorate includes. The area of ​​the Nasiriyah marshes, before they were drained in the early 1990s, is estimated at one million and 48 thousand dunums, while the area that was re-flooded with water after 2003 is about 50 percent. Of the total area of ​​the Nasiriyah marshes, this submerged area quickly shrinks significantly after every water crisis the country goes through.[/size]
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