Until now, it has been well-established that coral complex in the Arabian/Persian Gulf only exist in the coastal regions of Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates and it was thought that there are no coral reefs in Iraq. However, here for the first time we show the existence of a living 28 km2 large coral reef in this country. These corals are adapted to one of the most extreme coral-bearing environments on earth: the seawater temperature in this area ranges between 14 and 34°C. The discovery of the unique coral reef oasis in the turbid coastal waters of Iraq will stimulate the interest of governmental agencies, environmental organizations, as well as of the international scientific community working on the fundamental understanding of coral marine ecosystems and global climate today.

Abstract. In this study, we evaluate ecological and cultural resiliency in response to desertification of the Mesopotamian Marshes of Southern Iraq. Our research illustrates that the desiccation of the marshes has caused a drastic change in how Marsh Arab women interact with their environment; specifically, in comparison to the predesiccation period, women's roles are increasingly limited to domestic rather than marsh-dependent activities. With the exception of raising water buffalo and limited horticulture activities, most families today have little opportunity to utilize women's ability to generate income by applying their traditional ecological knowledge and skills. Furthermore, these women are no longer transmitting their marsh-specific knowledge and skills to the next generation, and these valuable and ancient cultural memories are being lost. Upstream dam construction, drought, and regional climate change is depriving Marsh Arab communities of marsh ecosystem services such as potable water, water buffalo forage, fish yields, and reed production. In marsh areas, where enough water remains to sustain ecosystem services (such as in Chibayish and the Iraq Marshlands National Park), cultural knowledge has been retained and passed on to the next generations. We recommend that programs be implemented to preserve these traditional skills, to develop a market for handicrafts to support women and their families, and to support cultural knowledge. Otherwise, with the passing of the older generation, these remnants of ancient Sumerian knowledge systems and traditional ways of life will soon be forgotten.

During a scientific expedition to the Palinurus Rock, Persian Gulf, Iraq, a reef, which was discovered first in 2012, we found a new species which we tentatively assigned to Ciocalypta (Porifera, Demospongiae, Suberitida, Halichondriidae). Genetic results from different authors (Morrow & Cardenas, 2015, Redmond et al., 2013, Erpenbeck et al., 2012) suggest that several species of Ciocalypta and other species from Suberitida (e.g. several Axinyssa, Petromica, Topsentia, Cymbastela, Halichondria (Eumastia)) are indeed no Suberitida but belong to taxa yet unnamed. The species described here genetically clearly belongs to this new taxon outside Suberitida which awaits definition. Morphologically the new species clearly would be classified as Ciocalypta. Therefore the new species is described and compared to similar morphological species, some of them, as the type species, true Suberitida and true Ciocalypta, others belong to taxa still in need of a name.

Water scarcity in the Arab region is intensifying due to population growth, economic development, and the impacts of climate change. It is manifested in groundwater depletion, freshwater ecosystem degradation, deteriorating water quality, low levels of water storage per capita, and added pressures on transboundary water resources. High-income Arab countries have sought to circumvent the ever-present challenges of water scarcity through agricultural imports (virtual water trade), desalination, and, increasingly, wastewater reuse. In this review article, we argue that the narrative of water scarcity and supply-side technological fixes masks more systemic issues that threaten sustainable water management, including underperforming water utilities, protracted armed conflict and displacement, agricultural policies aimed at self-sufficiency, evolving food consumption behaviors, the future of energy markets, and educational policy. Water management challenges, particularly on the demand side, and responses in the Arab region cannot be understood in isolation from these broader regional and international political and socioeconomic trends. Recognizing the complex and interdependent challenges of water management is the first step in reforming approaches and shifting to more sustainable development outcomes and stability in the Arab region and beyond.

Countries that border the Persian or Arabian Gulf (hereafter "Gulf") are adopting ambitious global commitments to protect their marine environments (1). The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has committed to protecting 30% of their lands and waters, with other Gulf states expected to soon join. Gulf countries will not meaningfully meet these and other global commitments (e.g., post-2020 biodiversity framework) without rebuilding trust, exchanging knowledge, and jump-starting conservation coordination across their maritime boundaries. Gulf scientists have an overlooked role in this work. The Gulf's political boundaries are crowded among Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, making the regional networking of marine protected areas Letter for Science (Policy Forum) -submitted May 24, 2022 3 (MPAs) critical to system-wide conservation success (2). During the summer, the Gulf is the world's hottest marine system, with many organisms living near their physiological limits (3,4).

From the restoration point of view, heavy metals distribution and seasonal variation were studied in the re-flooded marshes of the Mesopotamia, southern Iraq. As part of the ecological recovery assessment of these newly inundated marshes, it is important to investigate the extend impact of 13 years of desiccation after five years of inundation on the heavy metals mobilization from the marshland downstream into the Shatt Al-Arab River and examine whether these marshlands retain their role of acting as sink of metals. The result shows significant differences between the re-flooded marshes versus the reference marsh, which indicates that desiccation caused changes in environmental variables and divided the one homogeneous system of the Mesopotamia into separated systems. In addition, the special distribution of heavy metals shows that Al-Hawizeh and Al-Hammar marshlands were efficient for metals reduction, especially for Ni, while the Central marshland has the major contribution as source to metals. As a conclusion, the recovery potential of three marshlands is strongly controlled by the hydrological status of the marshland and the degree of the desiccation impact. The environmental status of the semidried marshes, Al-Souda north and Um Al-Niaaj, as well as the completely Abu Zarag dried marsh is exhibiting a more positive recovery degree than the other monitored marshes in the Mesopotamia in comparison to the reference marsh.

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