Saving Iraq's Marsh Habitat for Rare Bird Species
Wednesday April 26, 2006
The Mesopotamian marshes of Iraq that lie between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are the sight of the new conservation project funded by the Canadian government and organized by BirdLife International.
Ornithologist Richard Porter leads the project and has set out to train local biologists on how to monitor and conserve Iraq's marshes. The region is home to eighteen globally threatened species of birds and three endangered endemic bird species.
Find out more: BirdLife spearheads Iraqi conservation project in Garden of Eden (BirdLife International)
Comments
While in Balad, Iraq I was so impressed with the variety and beauty of the birds there. One of the things that kept me sane was being able to go out periodically and photograph the various birds that inhabited the base and the surrounding areas.
I saw stilts, rooks, herons, larks and some beautiful falcons that hung around the speaker towers. Despite the war and the destruction, somehow these birds managed to survive and to thrive in the war-ravaged Euphrates River Valley.
http://nvrr.blogspot.com/2005/09/hello-from-balad-iraq.html
Thank you for sharing - btw, I enjoyed reading your blog and will be sure to stop by again! Your photos of birds are wonderful (http://nvrr.blogspot.com/2005/10/poo-pond.html).