INTRODUCTION
Main Non-Wood Forest Products
The main non-wood forest products (NWFP) of Iraq are medicinal plants.
Other NWFP include date palms, gums and honey.
General information
In the Zagros mountains, over cutting and overgrazing have reduced some of Iraq's oak forests to scrubland. Stands of other trees - maple, hawthorn, and pistachio, for example - remain, however. At higher elevations are alpine plants that can survive harsh weather. Reeds, boxthorns, buttercups, rushes, and saltbush grow in the nation's plains and marshlands. Date palms thrive in many parts of the country, and occasionally poplars and willows appear. Centuries of human settlement have depleted Iraq's wildlife.
Surviving mammals include bats, rats, jackals, hyenas and wildcats, with wild pigs and gazelles living in remote areas. Reptiles are numerous and lizards and snakes make their homes in the country's deserts. Among Iraq's domesticated animals are camels, oxen, water buffalo and horses. Northern Iraqis raise large flocks of sheep and goats for their wool and skins.
PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS
Food
Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera) may represent the oldest domesticated palm, having originated most likely in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) 5 000 to 10 000 years ago. The earlier time period would place the date palm among the most ancient of domesticated plants. In 1994, the three leading date-producing countries were Iran, Egypt and Iraq (FAO, 1994).
Medicines
In folk medicine in Iraq, most medicinal plants are taken in the form of beverages (bush tea) prepared by soaking in boiling water either the leaves or the whole plant.
Amongst the 1 500 or so plants used in Iraq, a large number serve medicinal and aromatic purposes. Some of them are cultivated.
Information about the medicinal and aromatic plants of the region is scattered in a range of different works. An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in different regions of Iraq following interviews with various traditional healers, who are called Attars, and various other people. Ninety-seven medicinal plants belonging to forty-three families were identified (Al-Nouri, 2000).
Tab. 1. Some medicinal plants used in Iraq
Achillea santolina |
Ephedra foliata |
Anchusa strigosa |
Haloxylon articulatum |
Capparis spinosa |
Prosopis farcta |
Centaurea phyllocephala |
Quercus infectoria |
Cleome quinquenervia |
Salvia spinosa |
Echium italicum |
Source: Al-Nouri (2000)
The vapour of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) plant was inhaled to stop a cough. Tests conducted in 1987 demonstrated that besides possessing anti-bacterial activity; the oil also has a very powerful anti-spasmodic activity. In 1988, research was undertaken in Iraq into the medicinal activity of Wormwood. This was because it was widely used in traditional medicine to treat diabetes mellitus. It was shown that oral administration of an aqueous extract did in fact produce a significant fall in blood sugar levels. Wormwood extracts have long been used by Medical Herbalist's for their potential worm expelling properties. As infestation of the gut with parasitic worms is common in societies with primitive sanitation, then it is very likely the ancients were well aware of the effects of this plant (Al-Nouri, 2000).
Liquorice is obtained from the dried roots and rhizomes of several Glycyrrhiza species, in particular G. glabra - all perennial herbaceous shrubs indigenous to southern Europe and the Near East. Most of the world's supply comes from plants gathered wild in the former USSR, Spain, Turkey, the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Exudates
Astragalus sp. naturally occurs in the oak forests of Iraq. The better gum-yielding species are small, low, bushy perennials, frequently with a cushion-like form. However, they have relatively large taproots, which are the primary source of the gum. A. gummifer is a low shrub. A. microcephalus, which produces a high quality gum.
The Asiatic species of Astragalus, which are the sources of commercial gum, are native to countries of Asia Minor: Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and parts of Russia. They are usually found in the drier mountainous regions, although they require some water.
ANIMALS AND ANIAML PRODUCTS
Honey and beeswax
In Iraq, beekeeping has traditionally been a well known source of food and income. Recently-introduced beekeeping methods are giving problems because of honeybee diseases and lack of access to equipment and technical know how. Assistance to beekeepers has been initiated and funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID).
The indigenous honeybee is Apis mellifera syriaca. A species reported to be Apis florea has been documented in eastern Iraq although it is not known whether this species has naturally increased its distribution westwards from Asia, or this represents an introduction by man, as has happened in Sudan.
Iraqis regard honey as a special, precious food. An ongoing project in Iraq is working to bring back the country's once high numbers of honeybees, which had been nearly wiped out by disease and war. In the early 1980s, "Every farmer a beekeeper" was the message and more than 500 000 traditional hives were active in Iraq. Then, from 1985 to 1987, apiculturists worldwide were hit hard by the spread of the Asian predatory mite, Varroa jacobsoni. The Iraqi Beekeepers' Association estimates that 90 percent of the over 500 000 honeybee colonies in Iraq had been lost to Varroa jacobsoni by 1987, The most recent threat to Iraq's honeybee population is the so-called "crawling disease". First reported in early 1994.
According to the statistics of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, the production of honey in Iraq in 1997 was 125 tonnes, the number of beekeepers were 17 000 (El-Shehawy, 1998).
REFERENCES
Al-Nouri, N. 2000. A survey of medicinal plants and their traditional uses in Iraq. Pharmaceutical Biology. 2000, vol. 38, no. 1.
Arab Net Home page. 2001. Iraq flora and fauna. Internet: http://www.arab.net/iraq/geography/iq_florafauna.html, viewed on June 10, 2001.
Bradbear, N. 1996. Zooming in on Iraq. Beekeeping & Development 39: 8
EL-Shehawy, M. A. 1998. The Future of Bees and Honey Production in Arab Countries. Internet: http://www.beekeeping.com/index_us.htm, viewed on June 10, 2001.
FAO. 1994. Tropical palm. Non-wood forest products 10.
Glaiim, M K. 1992. First record of Apis florea in Iraq. Beekeeping & Development 24: 3
Iraqioasis Home. 2001. Internet: http://www.iraqioasis.com/p1.htm, viewed on June 12, 2001.
Twaij, A. and Al-Jebbory, A. 1985. Screening of Iraqi medicine plants for diuretic activity. India J. Pharmac.1985, vol. 73.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This report has been realized in support to the FAO Forest Resource Assessment 2000. The content is mainly based on available information at FAO Headquarters in Rome and on information collected by Ms Sabra, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.
Additional information on NWFP in Iraq would be appreciated and duly acknowledged.
QUANTITATIVE DATA ON NWFP OF IRAQ
Product |
Resource |
Economic value |
||||||||
Category |
Impor-tance |
Trade name Generic term |
Species |
Part used |
Habitat |
Source |
Destination |
Quantity, value |
Remarks |
References |
1, 2, 3 |
F, P, O |
W, C |
N, I |
|||||||
Animals and animal products | ||||||||||
Honey, beeswax |
2 |
Apis mellifera syriaca. |
ho |
F,P |
W,C |
N |
Production worth 125 t in 1997 |
EL-Shehawy, 1998 |
Importance: 1- high importance on the national level; 2 - high importance on the local/regional level; 3 - low importance
Part used: an - entire animal; ba - bark; bw - beeswax; le - leaves; nu - nuts; fi - fibres; fl - flowers; fr - fruits; gu - gums; ho - honey; la - latex; oi - oil; pl - entire plant; re - resins; ro - roots; sa - sap; se - seeds; st - stem; ta - tannins
Habitat: F - natural forest or other wooded lands; P - plantation; O - Others: Trees outside forests (e.g. agroforestry, homegardens)
Source: W - wild, C - cultivated
Destination: N - national; I - international