Environmental Activism and the Search for Inspiration
by Salman Khairalla
This is Salman Khairalla, From Iraq, born in Baghdad 1991, My family is originally from Basra, I heard about the culture and water stories from my dad who is passionate about the environment
Since 2006, I have been working in the field of environmental and water protection. The beginning of my journey was strange, I escaped the civil war an Baghdad and began working underage. My passion for the environment became a shelter from war, ethnic violence and constant conflict. I was only fifteen years old at the time. My uncle invited me to work with him in an organization which was then called the Iraqi Institute (now the Nature Iraq Organization) and the work was a laboratory assistant. The beginning was difficult for someone my age, but I lived in the same headquarters as mu uncle and worked in the laboratory in the morning.
The difficulty of life at the time and the search for a stable monthly income was the ambition of everyone. During this period, I dropped out of school for a whole year, after which I returned to study at the request of friends and family but I continued with my work.
This is how it started, my work for the environment was initially to earn a wage and support my family, but in 2009 everything changed. When were on a journey in the Iraqi Marshes to complete a survey around and take water samples.
We saw a family consisting of two parents, a boy and a girl, who were gathered around a buffalo crying as thought they were at a funeral for a loved relative. It died due to water pollution and lack of water to sustain it. Buffalos are a traditional source of milk and livelihoods in Southern Iraq and require a certain amount of water to stay alive.
Since that day I've been thinking a lot about people's rights to have access to water, and how can I can be a voice for them. I did not know or hear of something called "activist" before. Later I realized that I can be an environmental activist and help others voluntarily.
So, I worked at the time deepen my knowledge and experience as researcher in this field I achieved a degree from the Faculty of Science, Department of Environment at the University of Kufa in November 2012, and at that time I was still studying, working and volunteering.
In 2015, it was one of the largest demonstrations against corruption and demanding services in central Baghdad, in which I and my brother participated in it. My brother was demanding a fair judiciary, and I demanded sufficient water rations for the marshes and protested against the notorious Turkish Ilisu Dam. At the time environmental activism was something new in Iraq the people and the media were not aware of what I was saying nor the environmental risks. In Iraq the priorities at that time are security and services, and no one thinks about the future of water for Iraq, no one considered that all of these risks are inter related.
I was still a student in the final stage of my bachelor’s studies, after which a friend from Norway called me, who was at the time the international coordinator of the international campaign to save the Tigris and the Iraqi marshes, with whom I had previously volunteered through Nature Iraq. She asked me at the time to be an independent volunteer in the campaign and to be with them from Baghdad. I agreed and communicated with them until she later introduced me to a movement that was the first of its kind in the Middle East, called the Iraqi Social Forum, and I fought with them to obtain all rights, especially water and environmental rights.
After that, we reached a decision to form a volunteer team that adopts environmental and water issues called Humat Dijlah (Tigris River Protectors ), and from this team a social movement in Iraq would start, specifically to protect the Iraqi Marshes and to advocate for environmental rights.
At that time, we fought to include the marshes on the World Heritage List, and participated in a number of local and international conferences and activities.
After Humat Dijlah became a registered and official organization, we started a cooperation Iraqi Social Forum and the International Campaign to Save the Tigris River and the Iraqi Marshes, we were able to support and make a difference in the cities along the Euphrates and Tigris.
The draining of the marshes began during the first Gulf War in 1991, the natural environment has many of its unique features, the areas of wetlands, tens of thousands of people were forced to migrate to migrate to their areas of living and to change their economic livelihood. Drawing between 1991 and 2003 the marshes witnessed a tragic reality represented by the drying up of most of the wetlands, the destruction of hundreds of thousands of agricultural lands, the migration of individuals from national and migratory animals and birds, the decline of fish wealth, the extinction of traditional crafts, with the elimination of green cover. The American action plan draining the marshes is the best opportunities for environmental humanitarian work and a sustainable economic balance, which was his response to the deepening of the climate crisis yet.
Attempts to revive the marshes after 2003 have not succeeded in restoring them to their previous state, and despite their inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016, the environmental, social and economic reality in them is still fluctuating. Which cast a perversion on the overall environmental scene in southern Iraq. Perhaps one of the reasons for the faltering attempts to revive the marshes after 2003 is that the source countries control imports of the main rivers and the secondary tributaries that feed the marshes area, which did not happen with this ferocity before it was drained in the year 91, and the water pollution with chemical compounds, sanitation, heavy water, and the inability of the competent authorities to By addressing this problem, it reduces the chances of the marshes obtaining usable water.
The neglect suffered by the marshes, the deterioration of the service reality and the weak infrastructure weakened the opportunities for economic development. With this reality, the inhabitants of the marshes did not find any opportunity to practice their usual social activities while being preoccupied with trying to secure the basic necessities for living. Economic growth depends on health and education as well, and is directly related to them, both of which are witnessing a more tragic reality in the marsh areas in general.
Quite a few Marsh Arabs immigrated to city centers to work in various jobs and freelance professions, and many of them engaged in military careers, either with the official armed forces or with informal militias, and due to the deterioration of their living conditions, many of them found themselves forced to assimilate into the wheel of the economy. Wars, after their parents were among the best people who worked to preserve nature and protect its resources.
The over-reliance on the oil industries as a main source of support for the local economy has caused an imbalance of sustainable balance, as many of the marshes are no longer able to continue their traditional economic activities and many of them left their businesses heading to the doors of the oil companies operating in their areas. The expansion of oil investment activity in the southern regions of Iraq at the expense of dwindling eco-friendly economic activities has constrained the climate reality and pushed it to the limits of extremism, as investment in the oil industries sector is one of the biggest sources of environmental pollution in this region.
Given the complexity of the challenges facing the marshlands environment, the process of restoring the ecological balance requires revolutionary measures that start with addressing the economic pattern, a real intention to reform reality, and an acceptable time ceiling, leading to the legalization of the severity of climate damage to this region. In order to recreate the patterns Economic back to its traditional forms, work must be done to solve the water crisis and secure constant supplies that irrigate the marshlands and ensure their inundation throughout the seasons of the year in a way that secures the needs of the local population. To achieve this, the existence of the marshes must be invested as an international property on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as this places them in a privileged position in any negotiations that seek to secure their sustainability, and it is necessary to accelerate the opening of dialogues with the countries of the source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that feed the marshes in order to ensure their needs Hydroponic. As economic development begins with reforming infrastructure, health and education, investment must be made in these sectors to empower local communities and encourage them to resume traditional activity in the region.
The issue of water and water security is one of the most important issues in Iraq, and despite this importance, a large number of Iraqis still do not place it among their priorities. Given that there has been ongoing conflict in the region this is not surprising, however access to clean safe drinking water is linked to peace, security and safety.
It is no secret that Iraq has a large water wealth, including lakes and wetlands, but if the necessary measures are not taken, it will face a great risk of losing this great resource. Here comes the role of the Humat Dijlah in creating a public opinion that interacts with water issues, pressuring the official authorities to take the necessary measures in preserving this national revolution.
I always think that the responsibility to protect water resources and preserve the environment is a public responsibility that falls on everyone's shoulders. In addition to the official bodies and governmental parties of the various nations, this responsibility must be adopted by local and international NGOs as well, in addition to independent activists, journalists, academics, as well as media institutions.
I focus on spreading awareness about volunteer work and developing ideas among young people. I would like to mention here that one of the most important dreams was the establishment of a social movement, Iraq today has enough material that young people can move forward, develop and complete the struggle to preserve the environment. And all of this began with a dream, which is to establish an environmental movement in Iraq and inspire the next generation.
We used many methods in the association to spread the movement and used several methods, including advocacy campaigns on social media sites, to educate and raise awareness of the dimensions of the issue. As well as mobilizing and inviting more associations, organizations, activists, academics, media professionals and specialists to expand the work space. Organizing workshops and seminars to raise awareness of the importance of preserving the environment and water. These workshops include all public groups. And the importance of coordination with local governments and departments in the various regions in which the movement is active for joint action, campaigns to clean up rivers and combat pollution, work to study enforceable laws related to water issues, diagnose legal gaps in them and offer possible solutions. Finally, we conducted studies on water to assess the possibility of using it optimally, and to know the percentage of pollution in it.
One of the most difficult challenges I have faced is not finding environmental solutions or alternatives to what destroys ecosystems or water, but rather the threat. Whereas, after the water issues became close to being issues of public opinion, threats began to multiply and were diverse from militias and influential people. And the environmental violations that they are working on inside Iraq and the destruction of natural and industrial waterways. All threats were direct or indirect, via social media, or through relatives or friends. Believing that change sometimes requires an intellectual revolution as well, that is why we were part of the protest movement in October 2019. We had taken upon ourselves some detailed environmental issues and demanded solutions for them through the Iraqi environment tent that we opened inside Tahrir Square in Baghdad.
We used it to spread environmental awareness and environmental culture. In late 2019, I was absent by government forces, my colleague and I, an activist in the field of workers' rights, and this incident had a wide resonance in Iraq and internationally, so the environmental advisory at the United Nations intervened to demand the Iraqi government to release me and many international and local bodies who believe in the safety and integrity of the environmental thought that we carry. After my release on bail, I left Baghdad and I cannot return to it in glory, not only for fear of being killed, but the message that I carry. Saving the Tigris is my duty and the duty of everyone who relies on it.
About
Since 2006, my work focuses on conflicts over water in the Tigris and Euphrates river basin. I am the Coordinator of Save Tigris Campaign and Director of “Humat Dijlah” (Tigris River Protectors Association). Save the Tigris is an international civil society advocacy campaign to protect the heritage & water resources of Mesopotamia from the impacts of unsustainable management & climate change on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
I have raised the human and environmental impacts of the water crisis in Iraq at meetings of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the Norwegian Social Forum and Ecopeace. I worked with legal and water experts to develop a framework that includes both a diplomatic and international law perspective to curb environmental migration. Following consistent advocacy efforts from our organization, the Marshes were registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016.
I am a member of the Secretariat of the Iraqi Social Forum, an umbrella of NGOs, social movements and workers unions from the progressive sphere in Iraq. The ISF and I have been among the lead organizers of the anti-corruption and social justice demonstrations in Baghdad since 2014 and currently since 1 October 2019.
More on Salman's work…
About Humat Dijlah:
www.hdijlah.org
Follow in Facebook (@h.dijlah1)
Follow on Instagram (@h.dijlah1)
Follow on Twitter (@hdijlah1)
Media, campaign and research features:
https://www.lifegate.com/water-defender-salman-khairalla-iraq
https://water.fanack.com/iraqi-activists-standing-up-for-the-environment/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraq-protests-baghdad-military-un-abduction-death-tollf-a9246336.html
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/12/iraq-end-campaign-of-terror-targeting-protesters/
https://elbarlament.org/developing-sustainable-solutions-to-fight-water-pollution-and-environmental-degradation
https://www.savethetigris.org/building-the-network-of-water-activists-in-basra/
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/protestors-lockdown-oil-environment-210420203
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-sewage-pipe-empties-into-the-Tigris-River-as-it-runs-through-Baghdad_fig1_339133034