Nairobi, 11 July 2008– The Environmental Management of the Iraqi Marshlands was one of three United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) projects, among the winners of the UN21 Awards. The award is given out every year by the UN Secretary General to recognize outstanding initiatives across the organization. The Iraqi Marshlands Project was given a commendation by the UN21 Committee in the Category of "Field Projects".

The UNEP project, “Support for Environmental Management of the Iraqi Marshlands”, was launched in 2004 and is helping the Iraqi people to restore the marshlands and manage them in a sustainable manner, as well as providing safe drinking water and sanitation systems to marshland communities lacking access to these basic necessities.

Iraq's marshlands, which were nearly destroyed in the 1990’s, have now recovered to a remarkable extent. Today some 60 per cent of the Marshlands are saturated with water again and up to 22,000 rural residents in the area have access to safe drinking water. This has also led to the wetlands' diverse wildlife returning in significant numbers.

Iraqi Marshlands are of great importance to migratory waterbirds and the AEWA Secretariat is very pleased that this project has been recognized by the award. This will help attract more international attention to these important wetlands and will hopefully lead to more support for their restoration.

For more information, please visit:

- UNEP's Iraqi Marshlands Project Website
- UNEP Announcement on the Award