Marshlands of Southern Iraq the Consolidated Management Plan For

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Marshlands of Southern Iraq the Consolidated Management Plan For The Ministry of Environment “The Ahwar” Marshlands of Southern Iraq The Consolidated Management Plan for the Protected Areas of: - the Huwaizah Marshes - the Central Marshes - the East Hammar Marshes - the West Hammar Marshes January 2014 1 2 Table of Contents Section One: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 5 1.1 This document..................................................................................................................................... 5 1.2 The Marshlands as a potential World Heritage Site ............................................................................ 6 1.3 Historical Background ......................................................................................................................... 7 Section Two: Information ............................................................................................................................. 9 A. General Information .......................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Location ........................................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Land Tenure .................................................................................................................................. 12 2.3 Overall Legal Arrangements .......................................................................................................... 13 B. Physical Information ........................................................................................................................... 16 2.4 Topography and Geology .............................................................................................................. 16 2.5 Climate of the Marshlands ............................................................................................................ 22 2.6 Soils of the Marshlands ................................................................................................................. 30 2.7 Hydrology of the Marshlands ........................................................................................................ 31 C. Biological Information ......................................................................................................................... 38 2.8 Habitats of the Marshlands ........................................................................................................... 38 2.9 Flora of the Marshlands ................................................................................................................ 45 2.10 Fauna of the Marshlands ............................................................................................................ 48 2.11 Socioeconomic Setting of the Marshlands ................................................................................. 59 Section Three: Factors and Objectives ....................................................................................................... 65 3.1 Factors Influencing Management ..................................................................................................... 65 Recent Events which Shaped the Contemporary Marshlands ............................................................ 65 3.2 Sites’ Evaluation ................................................................................................................................ 69 3.3 Logical Framework and Objectives ................................................................................................... 77 Section Four: Management Actions .......................................................................................................... 83 3 4 Section One: Introduction 1.1 This document This document was prepared by the Iraqi Ministry of Environment for the Marshlands of Southern Iraq (the Ahwar) Protected Areas of the Huwaizah Marshes, the Central Marshes, the West Hammar Marshes and the East Hammar Marshes. This document represents a consolidated and summarized version of the four management plans prepared for the Ahwar Protected Areas with the purpose to be to be presented as part of the World Heritage Nomination Dossier which is anticipated to be submitted to the World Heritage Center in January 2014. The plan incorporates the main structural Protected Areas of the standard Management Plan Document as defined in IUCN’s guidelines on management planning best practices. The four detailed management plans of the four protected areas were developed in Arabic to satisfy the national legal and institutional requirements and facilitate the access and utilization by the national team at the central and local levels. The Management Plan for the Central Marshes was developed and translated to English as a model for the rest of the management plans. The full plans for the rest of the protected areas are being translated to English language and can be made available to the World Heritage Centre soon upon request. Contact Information: Dr. Ali Abdul Zahra Al-Lami Deputy Minister Ministry of Environment Arasat Al Hindiya Street, P.O Box 10062 Baghdad, Iraq Tel: + (964)7801956848 Fax: + (964) 7192071 Email: [email protected] 5 1.2 The Marshlands as a potential World Heritage Site The Marshlands of Southern Iraq are currently proposed for nomination under the World Heritage Convention as a National Serial Mixed World Heritage Site for culture and nature. To develop the adequate legal and institutional arrangements for the management of the site, an inter-ministerial National World Heritage Committee was created in late 2013 by the Council of Ministers. It is within this body's mandate to be the highest national authority ensuring the protection, conservation and management at established and potential World Heritage properties in Iraq. The National World Heritage Committee is charged, among others, with periodic reporting to the World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of the inscribed properties. The Committee, under the auspices of the Minister of Environment, includes representatives from the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and the Ministry of Interior, in addition to several local and national civic society organizations as the primary stakeholders involved in the strategic and day to day management of the site. The committee is mandated to set the policies, strategies and action plans needed for the implementation of effective management systems in the site and to assure the availability of required financial and human resources needed. Further, it will guide the process of management planning and monitoring of the various indicators set in the management framework. Therefore, the management framework for the Ahwar provides that guidance will be sought from the National World Heritage Committee to ensure that the protection and management of the site meet World Heritage standards. Furthermore, Directors of Environment, Water Resources and Antiquities at the governorate level will report both to their direct ministerial authority and to National World Heritage Committee on the state of conservation of the Protected Area parts of the site under their jurisdiction. Upon the foreseen successful submission of the complete nomination dossier, the first assignment of the National World Heritage Committee in 2014 will be to develop and adopt a site-wide strategic management framework with the following aims: a. Set the overall vision for the management of the site as a World Heritage site. b. Ensure the effective coordination and cooperation between all parties involved in the management and development of the site. c. Facilitate the involvement of all key stakeholders, including local communities, in the planning, management and monitoring of the site from environmental, cultural, social and economic perspectives. d. Coordinate with the international community on the management of the site in terms of funding, joint programming, monitoring and development. e. Ensure that adequate levels of staffing and financial resources are made available by the government of Iraq to ensure the adequate levels of management under World Heritage standards. 6 f. Discuss and coordinate the collective national responses against pressures and threats facing the site. g. Undertake the overall coordination on the recruitment and operational management of human resources allocated by each of the key institutions involved in the site. 1.3 Historical Background Numerous studies have been carried out and theories have been developed to understand and explain the main events, conditions and factors which led to the formation of the Marshlands in southern Iraq. Such investigations address the key physical and climatic factors of earth tectonics, climate change, riverine hydrology, mineral deposition and sea level change. It has been established that factors related to climate change and sea level change have a prime effect on the quantity and quality of waters entering the Marshlands from the main and auxiliary river systems, as well as from sea level changes during different aridity levels. It is proposed that the Indian Ocean had regressed by around 130m over 18,000 years, during which the Arabian Gulf was totally dry, while the alluvial plain was covered by sand, silt and clay, as well as gypsum, dolomite and palygorskite that indicated riverine, Aeolian
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