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The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities

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The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities ARAB STATES THE AHWAR OF SOUTHERN IRAQ: REFUGE OF BIODIVERSITY AND THE RELICT LANDSCAPE OF THE MESOPOTAMIAN CITIES IRAQ Central Marshes - © IUCN Faisal Abu-Izzeddin Iraq – The Ahwar of Southern Iraq WORLD HERITAGE NOMINATION – IUCN TECHNICAL EVALUATION THE AHWAR OF SOUTHERN IRAQ: REFUGE OF BIODIVERSITY AND THE RELICT LANDSCAPE OF THE MESOPOTAMIAN CITIES (IRAQ) – ID No. 1481 IUCN RECOMMENDATION TO WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE: To defer the nomination under natural criteria. Key paragraphs of Operational Guidelines: Paragraph 77: Nominated property has the potential to meet World Heritage criteria. Paragraph 78: Nominated property does not meet integrity or protection and management requirements. Background note: This nomination file was submitted in 2014 for evaluation at the 39th Session of the World Heritage Committee; however, due to logistical and security matters, the State party requested to postpone the evaluation until 2015, for discussion at the 40th Session of the World Heritage Committee. The evaluation mission was undertaken in 2015, although logistical considerations prevented this being organized as a joint mission. IUCN and ICOMOS have met jointly with the State Party in face-to-face and skype meetings on at least 7 occasions to discuss the nomination during the evaluation process to date. In addition IUCN provided upstream advice on this nomination in a documented process that is referred to in the references below. 1. DOCUMENTATION Areas of the Huwaizah Marshes, the Central Marshes, East Hammar Marshes and the West Hammar a) Date nomination received by IUCN: 16 March Marshes. Thesiger, W. (1964). The Marsh Arabs. 2015 Penguin Books. Fawzi, N. A.-M., K.P. Goodwin, B.A. Mahdi, and M.L .Stevens (2016) Effects of b) Additional information officially requested from Mesopotamian Marsh (Iraq) dessication on the cultural and provided by the State Party: Following the IUCN knowledge and livielihood of Marsh women. World Heritage Panel a joint progress report was made Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. 2(3). Chatelard, by IUCN and ICOMOS, and sent to the State Party on G. and T. Abulhawa (2015) The World Heritage 27 January 2016. Further information was sought by Nomination of the Ahwar of Southern Iraq. Report on IUCN on the minimum water flows required to maintain upstream process published by Arab Regional Centre the wetland components of the nominated property, for World Heritage, Manama. Hoffman, F. T., the degree to which these flows are being met, and the Langendoen and T. Mundkur (2013) Comparative degree of threat to these essential water supplies. In analysis on the biological diversity and institutional addition IUCN requested a fully up-to-date statement management of the Marshlands of Southern Iraq. on the biodiversity values of the nominated property, Wetlands International. Magin, C. and S. Chape (2004) including threatened plants and species, and on a Review of the World Heritage Network: Biogeography, range of matters concerning the cultural components Habitats and Biodiversity. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland of the nomination, and the justification for a serial and UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK. approach. IUCN and ICOMOS held a conference call with the State Party on 11 February 2016 to further d) Consultations: 9 desk reviews received. The discuss the joint request and interim report. The State mission also met with the Governor, 1st Deputy and 2nd Party responded with further information on 25 and 29 Deputy Governor of Basra; the Governor and 1st February 2016. Deputy Governor of Thi Qar; and representatives from the Ministry of Health and Environment and from the c) Additional literature consulted: Various sources, Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR) in three including records of the Ramsar Convention, and Governorates. Further consultation took place with Garstecki, T. (2012). Development of a Management representatives of the Basra and Haritha Planning Framework for Ecosystem Management and Municipalities; the National Guard of Basra; NGOs; the Biodiversity Conservation in the Iraqi Marshlands. Ahwar task force; the Ramsar Focal Point in MOWR; UNEP / IUCN. Garstecki, T. and Amr. Z. (2012). and with many local residents and stakeholders. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management in the Iraqi Marshlands – Screening Study on Potential World e) Field Visit: Faisal Abu-Izzeddin (IUCN), 15-22 Heritage Nomination. UNEP/Ministry of November 2015, and Assaad Seif (ICOMOS), 6-13 Environment/UNESCO. Jasim, I. (2013). October 2015 Environmental Laws in Iraq. (Arabic). Ministry of Environment, Republic of Iraq. Republic of Iraq. f) Date of IUCN approval of this report: April 2016 Ministry of Environment. (2013). The National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan for Iraq (2013 - 2017). Republic of Iraq. Ministry of Environment. (2014). “The Ahwar” Marshlands of Southern Iraq. The Consolidated Management Plan for the Protected IUCN Evaluation Report – May 2016 111 Iraq – The Ahwar of Southern Iraq 2. SUMMARY OF NATURAL VALUES (LC), in addition to the three restricted range subspecies of the Little Grebe (LC), Black Francolin The nominated property lies in Southern Iraq, within (LC) and Hooded Crow (LC)) and six restricted-range the four governorates of Maysan, Al Basrah, Dhi fish species: Pike Barbel (Luciobarbus esocinus-VU), Qar(which include the wetland areas of the Gattan (Luciobarbus xanthopterus-VU), Leopard nomination), and Al Muthanna. The nomination is of a Barbel (Luciobarbus subquincunciatus-CR), serial property, and nominated under both cultural Smallmouth lotak (Cyprinion kais-LC), Mesopotamian criteria (iii) and (v) and natural criteria (ix) and (x). It catfish (Silurus triostegus-LC) and Binni comprises three archaeological “cultural components” (Mesopotamichthys sharpeyi-VU). In addition, the (the small but internationally significant archaeological Ahwar provide habitat for three relict populations of sites of the Sumerian Cities of Uruk, Ur, and Tell Eridu three bird species (the African Darter (LC), the Sacred (respectively 541 ha, 71 ha and 33 ha in size), and Ibis (LC), and the Goliath Heron (LC)) that are four larger areas termed “natural components” in the thousands of kilometers away from their core global nomination, which consist of four freshwater, brackish populations in Africa. and saltwater marshland areas in Southeastern Iraq. These four latter components are the Huwaizah Finally, the marshlands are also globally important for Marshes (48,131 ha and included within a Ramsar seasonal bird migrations as well as for fish (many of Wetland of international importance), Central Marshes which are diadromous meaning they migrate between (62,435 ha), East Hammar (20,342 ha) and West salt and fresh waters) and crustaceans coming from Hammar (79,991 ha) Marshes. The total area of the the Persian Gulf. As the only large-scale wetland property is 211,544 hectares, with an additional system within thousands of kilometers along two bird 209,000 hectares in buffer zones, which are defined migration routes, the marshlands have been around every component, with the exception of recognized as one of the largest West Eurasian- Huwaizah where there is no buffer zone at the national Caspian-Nile staging points and wintering grounds for border with Iran. ducks as well as a major stopover point for shorebirds flying along the West Asian-East African flyway. The Ahwar of Southern Iraq (also known as the Iraqi Populations of at least 16 waterbird species appear to Marshlands) is unique as one of the world’s largest exceed 1% of the entire flyway population. inland delta systems in an extremely hot and arid environment. The marshlands are a highly dynamic With regard to criterion (x), there is a range of system, characterized by short and long-term additional information needed to better understand the ecological succession processes. Short term biodiversity values of the nominated property. The ecological succession results from the fact that the nomination dossier lists 38 mammal species in the marshlands receive little or no precipitation and are marshlands but notes this estimate relies on historical virtually entirely dependent on a seasonal influx of records rather than recent surveys. Confirming the water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Longer presence of the mammal species in the components of term succession has resulted from a range of factors the nominated property would be important. As noted including Earth tectonics, changes in sea level, riverine above, more information would be needed on the hydrology, mineral deposition and changes in climate minimum water flows necessary to sustain the dating back to the mid-Holocene 6,000-7,000 years biodiversity values of the nominated property. A more ago. These longer term processes have resulted in the complete understanding of the tolerance limits for key shifting of the entire Ahwar system from its previous plants and vegetation would also be useful as location near the cultural components of the nominated conditions in the marsh are still changing (water levels, property, to its current location to the East. Because salinity, nutrient levels, temperature etc.). This is these succession processes were fundamental in essential information as aquatic and semi-aquatic shaping the Ahwar of Southern Iraq over several plants are the structural and functional basis of the thousand years, the marshlands have a high degree of marsh community and are also crucial for traditional resilience, and this has made it possible to begin re- livelihoods. More data on the
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