Skip to comments.
Eden Restored (Iraq's Marsh Arabs)
The Guardian (UK) ^
| 11-23-2007
| Stuart Coles
Posted on 11/23/2007 2:34:18 PM PST by blam
Eden restored
An ambitious plan for the restoration of wetlands in Iraq will combine the ancient way of life of the returning Marsh Arab people with pioneering green technology. Stuart Coles reports
Guardian Unlimited
Friday November 23 2007
The marshlands restoration project covers an area of some 40,000 square miles. Photograph: Jonathan Tait-Harris
Saddam Hussein had scant regard for the largest wetlands in the Middle East, which teem with unique wildlife like the smooth-coated otter, Mesopotamian deer and Basra reed warbler. He saw them merely as a haven for hiding rebels and deserters from the Iran-Iraq War, and in the early 1990s, he ordered them to be drained.
By 2003, more than 90% of the Mesopotamian wetlands, dubbed the Garden of Eden, had been lost, and reduced to barren salt pans. Experts feared that the region, home to an ancient people considered the heirs of the Babylonians and Sumerians, would vanish by 2008.
Now, with a huge multibillion dollar restoration underway, funded by the US, Canadian and Italian governments and the United Nations environment programme (UNEP) many Ma'dan (Marsh Arabs) are returning to a life that has changed little in 5,000 years.
But, after years of urban exile, they are now accustomed to modern life's comforts, such as electricity, television, air-conditioning and wireless internet.
To meet old and these newly acquired needs, a two-and-a half-year feasibility study has produced a vision for "New Eden" a bold masterplan which aims for an "intersection between green technologies and traditional environmental knowledge."
Iraq architects and designers have drawn up villages of mudhif traditional reed houses, but which now have partitioned rooms, kitchens and bathrooms and use sewage collection systems instead of dumping waste.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: catastrophism; eden; frwn; iraq; marsh; restored
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-46 next last
1
posted on
11/23/2007 2:34:20 PM PST
by
blam
To: blam
2
posted on
11/23/2007 2:36:52 PM PST
by
P-40
(Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
To: SunkenCiv
3
posted on
11/23/2007 2:37:08 PM PST
by
blam
(Secure the border and enforce the law)
To: blam
--
To meet old and these newly acquired needs, a two-and-a half-year feasibility study has produced a vision for "New Eden" a bold masterplan which aims for an "intersection between green technologies and traditional environmental knowledge." --
yeah--I bet it's a "bold masterplan" alright--it'll soak up money in an unbelievable fashion--
4
posted on
11/23/2007 2:46:49 PM PST
by
rellimpank
(--don't believe anything the MSM tells you about firearms or explosives--NRA Benefactor)
To: blam
I am positively surprised the leftist Guardian (which carried an eulogy for Saddam) is carrying this positive story.
5
posted on
11/23/2007 2:50:37 PM PST
by
SolidWood
("I knew my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol.")
To: SolidWood
I wonder what time it will be on the news here?
6
posted on
11/23/2007 2:56:10 PM PST
by
P-40
(Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
To: blam
["Now, with
a huge multibillion dollar restoration underway, funded by the US, Canadian and Italian governments and the United Nations environment programme (UNEP) many Ma'dan (Marsh Arabs) are returning to a life that has changed little in 5,000 years....But, after years of urban exile, they are now accustomed to modern life's comforts, such as electricity, television, air-conditioning and wireless internet."]
I'm so pleased to find that some of the $45,000 in federal taxes I paid this year are going to such a good cause -- rebuilding an ancient swamp in a region where the average inhabitant would happily cut off my head if I were found walking their streets, and providing said inhabitants with electricity, television, air-conditioning and wireless internet.
7
posted on
11/23/2007 3:00:23 PM PST
by
Mad_Tom_Rackham
(Elections have consequences.)
To: P-40
The twelfth of never
To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
We’ve definately lost control of our government.
9
posted on
11/23/2007 3:06:34 PM PST
by
blam
(Secure the border and enforce the law)
To: blam
When I read a story about architects designing mud huts for people to move back into words just fail me.
10
posted on
11/23/2007 3:10:06 PM PST
by
antinomian
(Show me a robber baron and I'll show you a pocket full of senators.)
To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
This area is actually pretty friendly to the U.S. and one of our first actions on taking Iraq was to open up the dams that were diverting the water from the region. We actually had to repair some dams that locals were trying to tear down too soon.
This site has a good satellite photo comparison of the devastation the region suffered.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2807821.stm
11
posted on
11/23/2007 3:12:56 PM PST
by
P-40
(Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
To: P-40
12
posted on
11/23/2007 3:23:14 PM PST
by
blam
(Secure the border and enforce the law)
To: blam
How wonderful.
Mosquitoe infested swamps to spread Malaria, West Nile virus, and all the other wonderful tropical diseases.
13
posted on
11/23/2007 3:40:49 PM PST
by
Tailback
To: blam
Thanks! I was digging around trying to find my notes on how to post images. It has been awhile since I last did so.
It is fun to bring this up to the Global Warming alarmists as an example of a large-scale positive environmental thing this administration has done. :)
14
posted on
11/23/2007 3:51:14 PM PST
by
P-40
(Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
To: Mad_Tom_Rackham
“Iraq architects and designers have drawn up villages of mudhif traditional reed houses, but which now have partitioned rooms, kitchens and bathrooms and use sewage collection systems instead of dumping waste.”
The achitects and designers have the right idea. If they think like “The swimmer” Kennedy and “big digs”, billions will be pumped in and the project will never, ever be finished. Also similar to the New Orleans levees.
15
posted on
11/23/2007 4:48:30 PM PST
by
BerryDingle
(Illegitimi Non Carborundum (Don't let the bastards wear you down))
To: SolidWood
From Wikipedia: " .. account of their trip appears in
A Reed Shaken By The Wind, later published under the title
People of the Reeds."
Author Gavin Maxwell. Excellent read, as are most of his books. I particularly remember his account of a boar hunt in the reeds and how dangerous it could be.
16
posted on
11/23/2007 4:55:13 PM PST
by
1066AD
To: blam
Anybody see Boudreaux ‘roun’ here?
17
posted on
11/23/2007 4:56:52 PM PST
by
stboz
To: blam
This region, with it’s ancient history traceable to the Sumerian civilization in Eridu over 6,000 years ago, is surely fascinating. And preserving and studying it’s archaeological remnants is quite important. I’m just trying to find where it is stated in my copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States of America that I am responsible to pay for recovering an Iraqi swamp and upgrading the lifestyle of its inhabitants by a factor of ten centuries.
18
posted on
11/23/2007 5:17:18 PM PST
by
Mad_Tom_Rackham
(Elections have consequences.)
To: stboz
You know the blue crab joke?
19
posted on
11/23/2007 5:19:33 PM PST
by
ovrtaxt
(You're a destiny that God wrapped a body around.)
To: blam
Sounds like a multi-billion dollar waste of money to me.
20
posted on
11/23/2007 5:19:34 PM PST
by
Riptides
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-46 next last
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.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson