Table of content

Executive summary

Chapter I of the report provides an overview of the biodiversity of Iraq with a review of some of the historical work that has taken place as well as more current information collection efforts. An Ecoregion approach, using a method defined by the World Wildlife Fund & The Nature Conservancy, has been used to organize the review of status of the major ecosystems of the country. Each ecoregion is fully described in Chapter I with a list of key associated species and, in most cases, their current conservation status. Iraq falls within the Palearctic Realm and its terrestrial ecosystems fall within five primary and four secondary ecoregions (in terms of land area). These include:

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  Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh (PA0906) – 35600 km² Area – Critical/Endangered
  
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  Arabian Desert and East Sahero-Arabian Xeric Shrublands (PA1303) – 1851300 km² Area – Critical/Endangered
  
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  Mesopotamian Shrub Desert (PA1320) – 211000 km² Area - Vulnerable
  
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  Middle East Steppe (PA0812) – 132300 km² Area - Vulnerable
  
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  Zagros Mountains Forest Steppe (PA0446) – 397800 km² Area – Critical/Endangered
  
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  Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forest (PA1207) – 143800 km² Area
  
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  Red Sea Nubo-Sindian Tropical Desert and Semi-Desert (PA1325) – 651300 km² Area
  
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  South Iran Nubo-Sindian Desert and Semi-Desert (PA1328) – 351500 km² Area
  
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  Gulf Desert and Semi-Desert (PA1323) – 72600 km² Area
  

Chapter I also provides some information on important species in Iraq, particularly those of global importance that include migratory, endemic, semi-endemic and IUCN Red-listed species. Information is most complete for Iraqi bird species that are the focus of current field research under a national rapid assessment effort called the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Project (described below). A preliminary checklist of the Birds of Iraq has been developed (currently in press) that includes 417 bird species of which 182 are considered passage migrants to Iraq and an additional 27 are vagrant species. Of these, 18 species are considered to be of conservation concern. Important fish species have also received some recent study. Some 106 species of fish (including freshwater and marine entrant species) have now been recorded in the non-marine waters of Iraq (Coad et al. in preparation) and of these 53 species are marine fish (Abd, Rubec & Coad, 2009). Little current information exists on other globally important fauna species of insects, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals, though there are some efforts to collect limited information in these sectors by the KBA project. Botanical and habitat assessments have been done primarily in the marshlands of southern Iraq and in Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. Efforts are underway to complete the Flora of Iraq and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh’s (RBGE’s) Center for Middle East Plants has developed a draft checklist of species for Iraq of over 4500 plants with a secondary list of approximately 195 endemic Iraqi species (Knees et al 2009).

Finally, Chapter I reviews the major threats to and challenges for biodiversity in Iraq, which according to the United Nations Environmental Programme state four main causes: 1) lack of institutional or legal framework for the conservation of biodiversity; 2) lack of any effective protected areas network; 3) lack of a national biodiversity strategy or action plan, and 4) many species under threat from ecosystem degradation especially from the loss of the Mesopotamian marshlands and oil spills. Each eco-region listed above sometimes face unique threats, including large-scale drainage that took place in the marshes of southern Iraq in the 1990s under the Saddam Regime that caused major declines in biodiversity, and changes in traditional land management in the desert and steppe regions that is causing increasing dust storm events and desertification. Other threats may affect a variety of ecosystems and habitats such as: major changes caused by war and past conflicts; increasing municipal solid and sewage wastes that are untreated; and industrial pollution and toxic sites, particularly related to increasing development and oil exploration. Overall for the major threats of habitat change, climate change, invasive species, over exploitation and nutrients & pollutants, most threats are either increasing or remaining steady in Iraq.

A trial list of indicators for biodiversity are presented in Chapter I as part of the Pressure-State-Response Model used for tracking changes over time. In many cases, Iraq lacks the data to fully utilize these indicators and all are presented with an analysis of the gaps that need to be filled to fully utilize the indicators. The state and pressure indicators, which have enough information to provide some indication of trends in Iraq, are presented in Chapter I and additional information on these as well as response indicators are provided in the Appendix.

As stated in Chapter II, the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) does not yet exist in Iraq at this time. Strategic biodiversity objectives and activities have not been officially defined and included into relevant legislation and planning, although some actions beneficial to biodiversity conservation have been initiated under the supervision of the MOE and other relevant institutions. This report gives a preliminary assessment of the status of some biodiversity components and identifies the gaps that need to be filled in order to develop the Iraqi NBSAP. In Chapter II, some general objectives and main policy goals for the Iraqi NBSAP are defined. These objectives would need to be integrated into a global approach, involving all stakeholders at the governmental, public and private level.

Although the national strategic objectives are not yet defined, it is worth mentioning that 81% of the globally important, ecological region “Tigris and Euphrates alluvial salt marsh” is contained within the borders of Iraq and priority will surely be given to marshland protection and restoration. Some achievements have already been reached in this field.

There is a proposal for creating a Mesopotamian Marshlands National Park with several components and ongoing projects, carried out as activities of the New Eden Group (a joint venture under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IMELS, the MOE, the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources  (MOWR), the Iraqi Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works (MOMPW), and Nature Iraq (NI)).

In the southeastern part of Iraq a marshland area called Hawizeh has been designated as a Ramsar wetland of international importance. A management plan has been drafted for this area as a part of the New Eden Group initiatives; unfortunately the management plan has not yet been implemented and there is no national legislation to implement further protections to this area.

In addition, since 2003, the MOE has been involved in a number of initiatives to carry on research in the recently restored Mesopotamian Marshlands of southern Iraq. These efforts have lead to a national program called the Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) Project to survey the country’s biological diversity.

These existing biodiversity projects have exposed considerable obstacles for implementation and challenges for future development, mainly related to stakeholders outreach and involvement, jurisdictional disputes, lack of legislation, difficulties in the legislative process, difficulty in raising awareness, funding availability, capacity building, and security constraints. In the marshes area a major problem is the availability and quality of water due to upstream dam-building, embankment building in the border zone with Iran, and oil industry development, where the water of the marshes is used for oil extraction activities.

There is urgent need for global involvement and commitment in order to overcome these obstacles. Capacity building activities, with support of the Convention Secretariat, as well as constant funding provisions are necessary to address biodiversity research activities. Information and involvement of the public is also a strategic tool to improve protection.

Some of the mentioned activities and actions try, to some extent, to address major threats to biodiversity conservation in Iraq, as outlined in detail in Chapter I. These refer mainly to the marshland conservation and restoration, the drafting of new legislative protective measures, and the collection of data and scientific research. Nevertheless the drafting of a NBSAP is fundamental to comprehensively addressing major threats.

Chapter III discusses the absence of biodiversity concerns in broader national policies regarding poverty reduction or economic planning. Biodiversity issues are being addressed in a broader context only by the MOE, the Ministry of Agriculture and MoWR, some universities, and national NGOs such as Nature Iraq. A few temporary committees exist like a National Biodiversity Committee, comprising all institutional associations involved with biodiversity protection, and the committee for the management and research of the Ramsar site of Hawizeh. There are some agreements such as the memoranda of understanding between the Twin River Institute for Scientific Research (TRI), MoWR, the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Ministry of Agriculture, which addresses various issues related to water resources. There are also joint ventures such as the New Eden Group.

These are attempts to bring the biodiversity discussion into a broader institutional, private and public context, but there are still many steps to take to begin the basics of a mainstreaming process. For example, no strategic environmental assessment exists. Ad hoc environmental departments have often been created inside various ministries and institutions; nevertheless the communication and coordination in the drafting of relevant policies between these institutions is still very poor.

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  Agricultural biodiversity: as for the genetic diversity of crops, a gene bank for crop seeds exists, but very little is known on this project. Indeed, little attention is paid to sustainable crop productions while the use of fertilizers and potentially hazardous chemicals is still widespread.
  
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  Dry and sub-humid lands biodiversity: very little is known in Iraq about the status of these ecosystems; many important mammal, bird and reptile species may occur (or have in the past) in steppe areas, grasslands, shrublands and deserts; the vegetation is poorly investigated. Many ecosystems of this focal area are considered, within Iraq, from vulnerable to critical/endangered. Security is often a serious constraint to investigation.
  
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  Forest biodiversity: forest ecosystems can be found mainly in the northern part of Iraq, in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Extensive logging activities have deteriorated large parts of the oak-dominant deciduous forests and pistachio-almond forests typical of this area. Although the area is considered to be Critical/Endangered legislative provisions of the Kurdistan regional government prohibit and control logging in this area.
  
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  Inland waters biodiversity: the most important freshwater system in Iraq is formed by the Tigris Euphrates alluvial salt marsh ecological region. This can be distinguished by three main systems: the Central Marshes, the Hammar Marshes (Hor al Hammar) and the Hawizeh Marshes (Hor Hawizeh). During the 1970s, these marshes achieved an area of up to 15,000 km² making them the third largest wetland ecosystem in the world. These marshes have always been subject of seasonal drying effect but, as mentioned above, underwent a major campaign of intentional desiccation under the Saddam regime in the 1990s. Today the water flow has been partially restored and the global status of the southern marshes has improved a great deal, allowing the return of many important and rare migratory bird species. Due to the frequent occurrence of wetland areas in Iraq, which form 81% of the one of the important ecoregions in the country (Tigris Euphrates alluvial salt marsh), it would be enough to protect the three main marshes systems to achieve 10% protection of one of the world’s important ecological regions.
  
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  Marine and coastal biodiversity: Iraq has approximately 105 km of coastline and 716 km² of territorial seas. The water quality in the Gulf has suffered from the decline in the water quality of the input rivers. The marshland drainage alone has eliminated nursery areas, increased the sedimentation in the Gulf, and produced significant declines to the fishery within the Iraqi territorial waters and surrounding areas.
  

Important first steps have been taken to protect a basic component of Iraqi biodiversity by restoring the marshes and starting a process to effectively protect these areas by making a portion of them Iraq’s first National Park and first Ramsar site. Wetland restoration and protection represents important progress that Iraq has made towards the implementation of the Convention but even within these two sites full protection has not yet been measured on the ground. Also, many other biodiversity-related activities are still either poorly implemented or completely unimplemented. In particular, progress is lacking in regards to legislation updates and enforcement, species protection and trade controls, stakeholder involvement, mainstreaming and capacity building.

Overall, the Convention is still poorly implemented in Iraq. Considering its recent accession to the Convention, however, overall Iraq can be regarded as a commendable example of commitment towards nature conservation.