Mesopotamian Marshlands Database

History

The history of the Mesopotamian Marshlands is rich in culture and longevity.  This area has thrived for nearly 5,000 years and is a cultural hub as it is the cradle of civilization.  However, recent changes within the last 50 years have negatively affected the area, and in August of 2002 only 745km² was all that was remaining of the 20,000km² area.  This is due to engineering projects not only in and around the marshlands, but hundreds of miles away as well. Recent remediation efforts over the three years or so, have induced a reversal in this devastating disintegration trend for the marshland. Currently, the marshland’s area has increased from 745 km² in 2002 to 3983 km² in 2005.  This is a 535% increase in surface area from 2002.  This website was developed to mark the impacts on the marshlands, as a result of these projects throughout these past 3 decades.  In addition to the locations of the engineering projects throughout the entire Tigris-Euphrates basin.

Figure 1.  Rapid disintegration of the marshlands area.  From 1977 to 2002, 95% of the marshes had been destroyed.  After remediation efforts the marshes have begun to return to health.