The Savage Lecture Series, hosted by the School of Architecture and Allied Arts, continues to enlighten students, faculty and community members on the subject of reconstructing cities after war or disaster. The series, “Cities in War, Struggle, and Peace: The Architecture of Memory and Life – Rebuilding Cities after War and Disaster,” held its fourth of six lectures Tuesday night.
Dr. Azzam Alwash is the CEO of Nature Iraq, a non-governmental organization “focused on the protection and restoration of the environment and rich cultural heritage of Iraq,” according to its Web site.
Alwash spoke of the history, current conditions and future hopes of restoration of the once-lush Iraqi Marshes. His lecture, “The Case of the Iraqi Marshes: The New Eden Villages,” described the current restoration efforts in Iraq. These efforts are headed by Nature Iraq’s main program, “Eden Again.”
Alwash opened the lecture by describing his feelings about the marshes.
“I have had a lifelong passion for the marshes and I hope to make you fall in love with them too,” he said.
As Alwash highlighted in his lecture, the Iraqi Marshes once spanned for 6,000 square miles across the interior of Iraq when fully flooded. The area was seasonally flooded by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, creating a unique environment that its inhabitants lived and thrived in for 5,000 years.
This historical lifestyle came to an abrupt end in 1991. Following the first Gulf War, the marsh region became a central location for a rebellion against Saddam Hussein’s regime. Alwash explained that in order to end the rebellion, and under the guise of developing more “agricultural land,” Hussein ordered that the marshes be drained. To do this he had six major canals built that diverted the water from the marshes. He then had troops go in and burn the reeds (a key resource to both the environment of the marshes and the lives of its inhabitants). Dikes and other barriers were built around the lush habitat.
It is estimated that the draining displaced 500,000 people and turned roughly 90 percent of the marshes to wasteland.
Alwash said the disaster caused widespread human suffering and poverty as well as an environmental nightmare, as the marshes had been acting as a buffer for poisons and toxins that surrounding industries were emitting.
The marshes remained in this condition until 2003, when some of the former marsh dwellers, with the help of Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources, began breaching sections of the dikes allowing water to slowly re-flood small portions of the marshes.
“When they breached the dike, 200 square kilometers refilled almost instantly, and the people slowly started to return,” Alwash said.
The “Eden Again” project is working to restore and repair the marshes’ environments and to create a good living situation for the region’s people. This is a very extensive job, made even more difficult by the current political instability that plagues Iraq.
Despite these difficulties the project has developed an initial structure to restoration. It has been working with the Center for the Restoration of the Iraqi Marshlands, Iraq’s Ministry for Water Resources and Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Territory.
Alwash explained that the reconstruction involves the strategic re-flooding of the region as well as the construction of villages in and near the marshes. It essentially is recreating the former layout and habitat, while also implementing modern conveniences and access to institutions such as health care and education for the people.
This plan is in its initial stages will likely undergo many changes and revisions during the implementation process, Alwash said. The inhabitants will critique the design and provide the project with their historical knowledge of the marsh’s habitat.
Alwash has raised $50 million for the construction of the first village. It has been funded by Iraq’s government.
The decision to include Alwash and the Iraqi marshes in the lecture series was made by the lecture series’ organizer, Professor Howard Davis.
“I knew that I wanted a variety of points of view, disciplines, and of places. I’d always been interested in the Iraqi marshes, so when I realized that there was this connection, I decided to invite him. The marsh people were displaced by politically motivated actions that contributed to war and are now being resettled as a result of war, so the connection to the theme of the lecture series is a strong one.” Davis explained.
Audience members both enjoyed and were inspired by the lecture.
“This presentation was more ecstatic than the others in the series so far,” second-year grad student Mark Griffinsaid.
Senior Allyn Jeans, an architecture major, was even more inspired by the lecture.
“I’d like to go there and see the marshes now,” she said, “possibly this summer even.”
Two more lectures remain in the series. They will be held Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in 177 Lawrence, and Feb. 11 at the same time and venue.