How disappointing and sad it is to see a country that is rich in water resources having two rivers (Tigris-Euphrates) passing through the country and being the cradle of irrigation face water shortage. Another drastic impact of the chaos caused by the US invasion of Iraq. This is a report from IRIN news   Iraq is suffering from water shortages that could lead to widespread drought as a result... [read more]

At last some good news emerging from Iraq. After decades of systematic destruction and neglecance, the marshes area in Iraq is about to be restored to its dazzling nature. The wetlands are considered as aunique ecosystem at the global level but were destroyed in the 1980s in an attempt to control the security area between the Iraqi-Iranian borders during the 8 years war between the two countries.... [read more]

The horrific conditions in Iraq are not only manifested in occupation, terrorism and loss of infrastructure services, but there is a huge environmental burden resulting from the current cycle of violence starting in 2003. This is a gloomy but true assessment by Jeffery St Clair and Joshua Frank   The ecological effects of war, like its horrific toll on human life, are exponential. When the Bush... [read more]

Four years after the USA led invasion of Iraq and the subsecquent chaose engulfing the country, the environment has been one of the many victims of the collapse of the Iraqi state and the long transitional phase. This is a report published in IPS regarding the environmental disaster in Iraq.   Stephen Leahy TORONTO, Mar 21 (Tierramérica) - Four years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and despite... [read more]

Source: Middle East Online   BAGHDAD - Residents of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, are at risk of contracting a range of waterborne diseases as the city’s sewage system has collapsed after four days of heavy rain, the country’s health ministry said on Monday. For nearly a week now, 45-year-old teacher Jassim Abdullah has been forced to buy bottled water for his family’s daily use at an expense... [read more]

By Bushra Juhi The Associated Press BAGHDAD — For 6,000 years, the river that flows through the heart of Baghdad nurtured the people who live along its banks — providing water, food, transport and recreation. But three years of war, plus pollution and politics, have transformed the storied Tigris into a stagnant sewer — and increasingly, into a graveyard for the victims of civil conflict. Some see... [read more]

Despite the turmoil of occupation, war and sectarian conflict Iraq has managed to find time and resources to conduct its first post-war national biodiversity survey. This survey was conducted after a partnership was established between Nature Iraq and Birdlife Internationa. Two MOUs have been implemented to facilitate project engagement to initiate marsh bird, wildlife and habitat condition surveys... [read more]

Source: Der Spiegel 30-10-2006   Iraq Worried about Turkish Dam The Ilisu Dam will, when it's finished, provide hydroelectric power in south-eastern Turkey. Iraq, though, is worried it may also cut flows of the vital Tigris River. Officials in Iraq are angered by Turkish plans to construct a gigantic dam on the river Tigris in southeast Turkey, near the Iraqi border. The so-called Ilisu... [read more]