Conservation
With the breaching of dikes by local communities subsequent to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq and the ending of a four-year drought that same year, the process has been reversed and the marshes have experienced a substantial rate of recovery. The permanent wetlands now cover more than 50% of 1970s levels, with a remarkable regrowth of the Hammar and Hawizeh Marshes and some recovery of the Central Marshes.
Efforts to restore the marshes have led to signs of their gradual revivification as water is restored to the former desert, but the whole ecosystem may take far longer to restore than it took to destroy.
- Conservation status: critical/endangered
- Protected area
- Endemic species: Basra Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus griseldis), Iraq Babbler (Turdoides altirostris)
- Threatened species: Basra Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus griseldis) - endangered
- Extinct species: subspecies of rat and another of otter
Read more about this topic: Shatt Al-Arab Basin
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