Iraqi Marshlands Rebounding Quickly Since Fall of Saddam, UN Reports

The marshlands of southern Iraq, reputed inspiration for the biblical Garden of Eden, have recovered rapidly since the fall of Saddam Hussein, whose regime turned much of the lush waterscape into arid salt flats, the United Nations said Wednesday. New satellite imagery shows a rapid increase in water and vegetation cover in just the past three years, with the marshes rebounding to about 37 percent of the area they covered in 1970, up from about 10 percent in 2002, the United Nations Environmental Program said.

"The evidence of their rapid revival is a positive signal," UNEP executive director Klaus Toepfer said in a report on a multimillion dollar restoration project.

Saddam drained much of the Mesopotamian waters between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by building dams, dikes and canals to punish the Marsh Arab inhabitants for supporting a Shiite Muslim rebellion following the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He also ordered thousands killed.

The marshes had been the source for fishing, boating and small agriculture that once sustained a population of up to 500,000 people.

Of almost 3,600 square miles of marshes in 1970, the area shrank by 90 percent to 304 square miles by 2002. As recently as 2001, some experts forecast the marshlands would disappear by 2008.

But restoration efforts since the fall of Saddam reversed much of the damage, bringing the current area to 1,400 square miles. The expanse swelled to 50 percent of the 1970 range in the spring but then dwindled due to summer evaporation.

Iraqi engineers and tribes began re-flooding parts of the wetlands by cutting gashes in dikes in the euphoria of Saddam's ouster in 2003.

Last year, the United Nations announced an $11 million project funded by Japan to help restore the marshes and provide clean drinking water and sanitation for 100,000 people living there. The program is providing settlements with water treatment systems and restoring reed beds that act as natural water filters. It is also training 250 Iraqis in wetland management and restoration.

Still, re-flooding the marshes requires a delicate balance of salt and plant life. The UNEP warns that more detailed field analysis of soil and water quality is need to gauge the exact state of rehabilitation.

"While the re-flooding bodes well for the Iraqi marshes, their recovery will take many years," Toepfer said. "We must continue to monitor the situation carefully and make the necessary long-term investment in marshlands management."

Also of interest: http://www.usaid.gov/press/factsheets/2005/fs050208.html

USAID's Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Request

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 8, 2005
2005-02
Press Office: 202-712-4320
Public Information: 202-712-4810
http://www.usaid.gov/

The President's budget requests $9.1 billion in fiscal year 2006 for development and humanitarian assistance administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID will uniquely program and manage approximately $5.0 billion and manage an additional $4.1 billion in coordination with the Department of State.

The fiscal year 2006 USAID budget request totals $4.22 billion in the following accounts:

Child Survival and Health: $1.252 billion
Development Assistance: $1.103 billion
International Disaster and Famine Assistance: $655.5 million
Transition Initiatives: $325 million
P.L. 480 Food for Peace: $885 million
In addition, USAID will manage the following programs with the Department of State:

Support for East European Democracies: $382 million
FREEDOM Support Act: $482 million
Economic Support Funds: $3.036 billion
Highlights of the Budget

$191 million in democracy and governance, conflict mitigation and human rights programs to support elections, the rule of law and anti-corruption and anti-trafficking efforts;
$325 million in transition initiatives to support the stabilization of fragile states;
$655.5 million in disaster and famine assistance for the management of humanitarian relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction assistance to countries struck by natural and man-made disasters;
$885 million in food assistance (P.L. 480 Title II) to relieve chronic food shortages, finance developmental activities and address emergency food shortages;
$451 million in education;
$433 million in agriculture and natural resource management;
$244 million in business, trade and investment;
$330 million for HIV/AIDS;
$425 million for family and reproductive health programs;
$327 million for child survival and maternal health and $139 million for other infectious diseases;
$3.036 billion in assistance to countries supporting the economic and political foreign policy concerns of the United States. Major recipients of this aid include Egypt, Israel, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza and front-line states in the war on terrorism, including Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Philippines. Funding is also requested for Iraq.
$680.7 million for USAID operating costs
$77.7 million for capital investment
Two noteworthy differences between this and last year's budget

First, the Transition Initiatives account will be put to greater use in managing USAID resources strategically. USAID has proposed shifting $275 million from the Development Assistance account to the Transition Initiatives account. This shift is necessary to allow USAID missions the flexibility to respond quickly to the special needs in fragile states for post-crisis stabilization, reform and capacity development. Four countries will benefit from this shift: Afghanistan ($150 million), Sudan ($70 million), Haiti ($30 million) and Ethiopia ($25 million). The remaining $50 million of the TI account will be managed by USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives.

Second, $300 million will be shifted from the P.L. 480 Title II account to the International Disaster and Famine Assistance account. The shift will allow for the purchase of local food in cases where there is a threat of a break in the food pipeline which could lead to critical food shortages, such as that experienced in fiscal year 2004 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In large-scale food emergencies (potential famines), such as Ethiopia, buying some food locally helps countries respond, themselves, quickly to critical food needs.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.