Telling A New Story -

لنروي لكم قصة جديدة

In the popular imagination, Iraq is a desert wasteland, devoid of natural beauty and lacking breathtaking scenery.

In Iraqi's understanding, their country's environment is hopelessly neglected, abused by forces beyond their control.

We want to tell a new story to change these attitudes, and show Iraq's last wild rivers in their true beauty and splendor.

Summary of the Expedition

نبذة عن الرحلة النهرية

Our story has two major chapters.

• First, we will lead a kayak expedition down the Choman-Rawanduz River of Kurdistan, northern Iraq in the spring of 2014 with a team of professional kayakers, river advocates, and a videographer who will conduct outreach to local communities to raise awareness about river threats and provide tools on how to protect them.
  
• Second, the story of the expedition will be retold in a short film, which will chronicle this record-setting first kayak expedition down the full length of the Choman-Rawanduz River in northern Iraq.  The film will be used to raise awareness locally and internationally, showcasing the tourism potential of these rivers and demonstrating how they can be protected and used sustainably.

What we Need & What You Get

ما نحتاجه منكم وما نقدمه لكم

We are raising  $10,000 to fund the videographer on the project and support the equipment and supplies needed for creating the film of the Expedition.  The full expedition cost will be approximately $70,000 for equipment, transportation and logistics and much of this funding will come from within Iraq and/or will be donated by the expedition participants themselves.

What do you get? Depending on the size of your pledge you will receive our copious thanks as well as T-shirts, bumper stickers, autographed photos, a copy of the final film and your name included in the credits. Other perks include in-country birding/hiking trips, in-country kayaking/rafting trips, ACA Membership, producer credits on the film and your very own kayak!  If you are in the U.S., your pledge will be tax deductible.

Why?

لماذا؟

In the fall of 2013 we conducted an expedition down the Tigris River from southeast Turkey to southern Iraq in both traditional and modern vessels.  The Tigris River Flotilla allowed us to reach out to riverside communities and promote the strong cultural connections that the Tigris River has always fostered.  It also gave us the inspiration to continue to do community outreach along the rivers in Iraq.  

The Choman-Rawanduz River is a major tributary to the Tigris and is part of the Great Zab River Basin, the last wild river in the country located in Kurdistan, northern Iraq.  After decades of conflict this relatively stable part of the country is rushing to develop and in so doing is putting its last wild and scenic rivers on the chopping block without realizing what a tremendous resource that they are about to lose.

Engineers throughout the country are building dams that are damaging the rivers. Undiscovered species will be lost forever, water quality is declining and a true paddlers paradise will be submerged and forgotten.  This expedition will demonstrate how rivers that are wild, free and clean can also be an important resource for recreation and tourism in a country that can greatly benefit from these more peaceful pastimes.

In addition to working with the riverside communities along the Choman-Rawanduz River itself, an action-packed film of the expedition will be developed to promote the rivers more widely in Iraq and beyond for eco-tourism and to advocate more effectively for their protection. There are few positive visual tools that can be used for Iraqi river advocacy and education campaigns and Iraq needs such a film to promote eco-tourism in the country that demonstrates a reason for keeping these rivers wild and clean.

Other Ways You Can Help

سبل اخرى يمكنكم مساعدتنا بها

Get the word out! Tweet this page or mention it on Facebook. Talk to us on Twitter. Email us at Waterkeepers Iraq or Nature Iraq with questions and comments.

Who are We?

من نحن؟

Nature Iraq is an Iraqi nongovernmental organization focused on biodiversity conservation and water resource protection. Our founder, Dr. Azzam Alwash, was the recipient of a Goldman Prize for excellence in protecting the environment and was included in Foreign Policy Magazine's list of The Leading Global Thinkers of 2013.

Virginia Tice is the founder and CEO of the Nature Iraq Foundation, a U.S.-based 501(c)3 charity who provides support to the Iraqi conservation organization Nature Iraq and other nonprofit organizations dedicated to the protection, restoration, and conservation of the environment in Iraq and the Middle East region. 

Nabil Musa is the acting Iraq Upper Tigris Waterkeeper at Nature Iraq’s Waterkeepers Iraq Initiative, a part of the international Waterkeeper Alliance and are dedicated to the protection of Iraqi rivers and waterways.

Andreas Bleiker is the founder and operator of Majestic Heights Outdoor Adventures, an eco-tourism company in northern Iraq dedicated to developing the tourism potential of Iraq and protecting the natural resources that support the country’s under-utilized wild and scenic resources.

David Burden is the International Paddlesports Ambassador at the American Canoe Association (ACA), a member based, national nonprofit organization that promotes paddlesports and provides stewardship support to help protect paddling environments in the U.S. and abroad.

اضغط هنا لقراءة شرح كامل للرحلة الاستكشافية بالعربية