"Garden of Eden" Receives Designation as National Park

The Mesopotamian Marshes in Iraq have widely been considered the location of the "Garden of Eden." Late last month, the Iraq Council of Ministers made history by designating the area as the nation's first national park.

Located in southern Iraq, the marshes were once the third largest wetlands in the world, but were devastated during the Gulf War in the 1990's. Saddam Hussein, then president, drained the area to less than 10% of its original size.

Satellite images of the marshes before and after being drained.

Efforts have been made to restore the marshlands since 2003. The designation as national park is hoped to offer continued support and motivation for restoring the area. The restoration of the marsh is hindered by the complex political pressures it faces as an integral water source.

Water politics in the region have been contentious, with countries upstream of Iraq restricting the water flows of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. However, Nature Iraq, a non-governmental organization which led the demand for national park designation, hopes to create water diversions to allow water to reenter the marshes.

Azzam Alwash, founder and President of the Board of Directors of Nature Iraq was quoted in a press release: “With this action, Iraq has acted to preserve the cradle of civilization.  It is now the duty of the world to help Iraq maintain these wetlands for the future generations by helping Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran to reach an equitable agreement on the sharing of the waters in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates.”

Angelica Oman

Graduate Program Assitant