Zrebar Wetland Restoration
Employer: Environmental Protection Department of Kurdistan Province
Location: Marivan, Kurdistan
Project duration: 3 months
Introduction to Zrebar Wetland
Zrebar wetland located in the vicinity of Mariwan, is the only known fresh water lake in Iran and is the gem of Kurdestan. Despite the fact that this lake serves the locals enormously, due the interventions of human being with its ecosystem, has confronted many challenges. The response and reaction to this issue has been different. The wetland is surrounded by villages that their residents’ income is from farming and raising livestock.
Wetland is a bean shape water mirror with a maximum depth of 5.5 m., its area is approximately 900 hectare and its catch basin area is close to 52 km2. Average precipitation in this basin is 760 mm per year and the temperature of the hottest day of the year is 24.5 C. Due to its area and depth, this wetland is the habitat of the unique fauna and flora in western Iran. Typha, fish and birds are a few to name.
Due to the fact that the major source of water in the lake is from the springs in the bottom of the lake, even during the drought years, the lake is not affected significantly. Construction of an embankment on the exit of this wetland, has adversely affected the natural cycle of it and created physical and chemical changes in the wetland.
The Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems
Restoration is a purposeful activity to return the state of an ecosystem to its original state before human interventions, considering the resilience of the ecosystem.
Zaribar Wetland is facing many challenges, the main ones that affect the quality and quantity of water and its environment include the following:
- The Typha surrounded the lake
- Construction of earth embankment or levee
- Wastewater and trash in the lake
- Farming and raising livestock in the nearby villages
- Changing the land use from agricultural to garden houses
