Steve Lonergan is professor emeritus in the Department of Geography, at the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, and former director of the Science Division at the United Nations Environment Programme. From 2006 to 2010, he led the Canadian-Iraq Marshlands Initiative, funded by the Canadian government. His books include Watershed: The Role of Fresh Water in the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (with David B. Brooks, 1994). Jassim Al-Asadi is an Iraqi engineer and environmental activist who was born in the marshes of southern Iraq. He played a pivotal role in the registration of the Marshes as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2016. Contributing author Keith Holmes is a geospatial scientist at the Hakai Institute in Victoria, BC, Canada. He is one of the authors of The Atlas of the Iraqi Marshes, published by the Canadian-Iraq Marshlands Initiative.
"""The Ghosts of Iraq's Marshes is a revelation. With compelling accounts of both human and natural history, the authors paint an indelible portrait of an ecosystem that shaped a people and the cruel attempt to destroy it. At its heart is a personal story of loss and endurance, as well as a cautionary tale of all we stand to lose when water is used as a weapon.""--Brian Payton, author of The Wind Is Not a River ""Emotionally gripping, and beautifully illustrated, the book gives the reader an insider's insight into the competing politics and economic priorities which threaten the very existence of the marshes and the unique Marsh Arab culture, one of the world's oldest, totally ecologically attuned to their green watery world."" --Mark Nelson, Institute of Ecotechnics""This remarkable book is a unique compilation that positions Jassim Al Asadi's compelling personal and heroic story as an alternative to Iraq's fractious historical record of social, environmental, and cultural injustice. Poetically framed by mythic legends and water stories, the story of the Marsh Arabs and the Mesopotamian Marshes is a guidepost for environmental renewal."" --Meridel Rubenstein, Eden in Iraq Wastewater Garden Project"