Al Hima: Traditional resource management, eco-cultural restoration, and social justice in the Arab world

Background/Question/Methods

Pilot projects in Jordan using al hima (an Arab traditional management system for protection of the commons) are being evaluated as a mechanism to provide community based conservation practices in the Mesopotamian Marshes, Iraq. The Arab word “hima” literally means “a protected place” and is the most widespread and longstanding traditional conservation institution in the Middle East. al Hima zones are established around water bodies such as ponds, wetlands, lakes and coastal areas to allow regeneration. Establishment of al hima zones limits human settlement in the protected areas, improving water quality, wildlife habitat and biodiversity in these zones.  Furthermore, al hima is a system of traditional resource management, providing a sustainable mechanism for generation of livelihood among local inhabitants, and may have important lessons for community based conservation practices in the Mesopotamian Marshes of Iraq. The Mesopotamian Marshes are a culturalized landscape, consisting of a reciprocal relationship formed over thousands of years between Marsh Arab cultures and the al ahwar wetlands. The biodiversity and cultural integrity of the Tigris- Euphrates River Basin is jeopardized by water scarcity, inequitable allocation of water rights, and high risk of desertification. Dams and upstream water diversions have reduced mean annual flows, resulting in water scarcity and impaired water quality throughout the watershed. Along with changes to water levels, salinity has increased and fish populations, reed availability, and grazing quality for water buffalo forage has declined. The Marsh Arabs have become environmental refugees, attempting to eke out an existence without clean water, adequate health care, or opportunities for education or earning a livelihood.

Results/Conclusions

Despite regional instability and uncertainty, al hima is an indigenous system for protection of the commons, with local application for prioritizing and revitalizing the biodiversity and cultural heritage of the Mesopotamian Marshes. Locally generated protected areas help provide protection for biodiversity, as well as a refugia from climate change.  Community based conservation and implementation of local land governance systems will be vital to helping Iraqi people allocate increasingly limited water resources. Modeled after Wild Jordan, local businesses can be developed to provide innovative income generating programs that build on locally available skills and products and on the eco-tourism potential of Iraq’s wetlands. At the landscape scale of analysis, a system of basin planning and equitable water rights allocation is also essential. Specific innovative solutions are presented to promote adaptations to water scarcity and changing climate throughout the Tigris Euphrates Basin.