Tuesday, July 30, 2013

an important news for the most important and ancient wetland in the world: THE FIRST NATIONAL PARK IN IRAQ IS IN THE WETLANDS

I copy and paste here below the full press release about the declaration of the first national park in Iraq.
When I was there in March I visit it and I found in fantastic. Here two pictures of it:


from: http://www.natureiraq.org/1/post/2013/07/press-release-national-park1.html


Iraq Declares its First National Park 


On 23rd July 2013, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved the designation of the Central Marshes of Iraq as the country’s first National Park. The efforts to declare this unique landscape a park and protected area began in 2006 through a joint effort by Iraq's Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Municipalities with support from Nature Iraq, an Iraqi environmental conservation organization, and other national and international institutions. Financial support for the effort came from the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land & Sea.

The Mesopotamian Marshlands of southern Iraq were once the 3rd largest wetlands in the world, originally extending between twelve and fifteen thousand square kilometers and partially covering the three southern governorates of Iraq (Missan, Thi Qar & Basrah). They were a vital resource for regional fisheries, reeds, and other natural resources; the home of the indigenous Ma’dan Marsh Arab culture, which is directly linked to ancient Sumeria; and a globally important area for large numbers of migrant and wintering birds, and the native habitat of endemic birds and other valuable wildlife. In the 1990s, the Saddam regime conducted a campaign to completely drain the marshlands, reducing their footprint by nearly 93%. The United Nations Environmental Programme called this action the worst environmental disaster of the last century.  But after 2003, local people and the government took action to restore the waters, and the southern marshlands, though greatly changed, have returned, as have the birds, fish, water buffalo and the Ma’dan, and remain a vital economic and ecological resource.

Azzam Alwash, founder and President of the Board of Directors of Nature Iraq said of the recent declaration: “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.”

Nature Iraq particularly applauds the difficult work done by the staff of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Environment, and the National Park Committee to make the Park a reality. Much work remains to be done to make the park a reality on the ground. Soon, the park, if properly implemented and managed, can provide both a refuge for Iraq’s marshland biodiversity and a sustainable boost to the local economy through park-related tourism and related socio-economic development projects.

For more information on Iraq’s first National Park, please contact Nature Iraq via email at info@natureiraq.org or contact Ammar Zakri, CEO at +964 770 211 6258.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Hi TWs friends, in this hot sunny day here in Italy I just made a simple post: copy and past from facebook this important article based on the UN Millenium Development Goals. One of this goal is about the sanitation for all. Join this article and share it! thanks. 


UN Millennium Development Goals ha condiviso la foto diUNICEF Africa.
Despite progress, 2.5 billion in developing countries still lack access to improved sanitation facilities. More on Goal 7 here:http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/environ.shtml


Would you live in a place with no toilet?
Lampouni, 16, and her dad didn’t want to. So… they build it themselves!
In Togo, less than 12% people in rural areas have access to improved latrines. That’s too little. As part of a project funded by European Commission - Development & Cooperation - EuropeAid, more than 90’000 people have been involved in building their own latrines.
Photos UNICEF/ Togo 2013/ Essi Fafa Soulé
Find out more on:http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/french/4501_7427.html

Friday, July 5, 2013

incoming important wetland conferences: WETPOL - 2013 and SWS - 2013

WETPOL 2013,



The 5th International Symposium on Wetland Pollutant Dynamics and Control, WETPOL 2013,  co-organized by the Ecole des Mines de Nantes and GEPEA will be held in Nantes from October 13 to 17, 2013.

WETPOL 2013 addresses the latest advances in the field of pollution control and diffusion in natural and constructed wetlands.

WETPOL 2013 will be at the border of process engineering, applied biology, ecology and environmental chemistry. The symposium will enable international exchanges and scientific cooperation.

WETPOL 2013 will be organized according to the following themes:
  • Mobility and sequestration of trace elements;
  • Behaviour of priority and emerging pollutants in wetlands;
  • Attenuation of diffuse pollution in wetlands;
  • Molecular and microbial advances related to pollutant fate, disposal and removal in wetlands;
  • Biogeochemical processes of pollutants in natural and constructed wetlands;
  • Pollutant modelling in wetlands;
  • Wetland's role in pollutant management at the catchment scale;
  • Wetlands and water reuse;
  • Impact of global climate change on wetland systems.
WETPOL 2013 is aimed at:
  • Researchers specialising in environmental sciences;
  • Engineers working in research and development;
  • Representatives from the water sector (local community, water agencies, etc.);
  • Entrepreneurs;
  • Policy regulators.

SWS 2013 

EUROPEAN CHAPTER MEETING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

conference web site: http://sws2013eu.wordpress.com/

The conference will cover the following topics:
.
  • Biodiversity and landscape
  • Natural, restored and constructed wetlands
  • Role of wetlands in water cycling at basin scale
  • Wetland Hydrology
  • Wetland microbiology
  • Wetland vegetation
  • Wetland fauna
  • Carbon sequestration and GHG emissions in wetlands
  • Nitrogen removal and turnover in wetlands
  • Phosphorus biogeochemistry in wetlands
  • Contaminants fate in wetlands
  • Wetland substrates
  • Wetland modelling
  • Natural wetland management
  • Wetland systems for water pollution control
  • Biomass management and utilization
  • Wetland outflow reuse
.
The SWS Conference will be structured in one plenary session, six parallel thematic sessions, one poster session and one field trip.
A special symposium on “Impacts of Air Pollution and Climate Change on Peatland Biodiversity and Biogeochemistry” will be organised by PEATBOG in parallel on Wednesday September 4th. 
The conference will be held in Padova from September 1st to September 4th.

The magnificent city of Padua, site of one of the oldest University of the world, founded in 1222, offers historical andenvironmental attractions together with unique food experiences. Padua is very close (30 km) to the beautiful and unforgettable city of Venice and is well linked with internationally and nationally important cities.

The beginning of September usually presents a favourable climate, perfect for excursions and vacations to the sea, mountains and countryside, all at short distance from Padova.


Thursday, July 4, 2013

treatment wetland..... basic definitions

Treatment wetlands (TW) are a green technology that reproduce in a confined area the chemicals, physicals and biological reactions that occurs in natural wetland systems.

The water quality improvements in natural wetlands had been observed by scientists and engineers for many years. This led to the development of CW as an attempt to replicate the water quality and the habitat benefits of the natural wetland in a constructed ecosystem to serve human water pollution.
Due to his natural origin and behaviour TW are complex systems in terms of biology, hydraulics and water chemistry.
Natural and constructed wetlands rely on solar insulation as a main driving energy, and warmer climates improve treatment rates (Kadlec,1996).

Within this system various kind of wastewaters are treated and transformed by the complex plants-fill medium-microbial colonies that develop and progress during the years inside the treatment bed (Cooper 1996, Masi 2000, Shepherd 2001, Borin 2005, Tocchetto 2006, 2007). The biological reactions are due to the activity of micro organisms attached to the available submerged substrate surfaces (plant roots growing in the media, and the surfaces of the media themselves).