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The National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan is a sectoral national strategy document of Iraq. It applies for the period of 2013-2017. Its main objective is to improve the quality of life and livelihood of the population through the protection of natural resources and support to sustainable practices; assessment of issues relevant to the environment situation and suggestion of environmentally-sound solutions; reduction of the potential impact causing environment deterioration, building an institutional and educational awareness to preserve the environment; a clear roadmap to implement the principles of proper environmental management; development of short- and long-term strategic solutions for global environmental variables.The Strategy comprehends 4 chapters in addition to the Action Plan. Chapter I contains the Introduction; Chapter II is a general description of the environmental situation in Iraq; Chapter III is the analysis of key and priority environmental issues and identification of the Strategic Objectives; Chapter IV comprehends the methodologies, mechanisms and roles of different institutions in the monitoring and evaluation processes; and Chapter V is the Action Plan for implementation of the National Plan for Environmental Protection which includes an array of programs and projects for the implementation of each of the strategic goals.After describing the underlying causes of the environmental deterioration of the country (urbanization, desertification and land degradation, lack of environmental awareness, inadequate environmental monitoring system, wars and political situation) and their impact on the environment, the document analyses the ten EPI Strategic Objectives: (1) protect and improve air quality; (2) protect and improve water quality; (3) control land degradation and combat desertification; (4) maintain marine and coastal environment; (5) protection and sustainable use of biodiversity; (6) develop and improve waste management; (7) reduction of oil pollution; (8) reduction of radioactive contamination; (9) integrated management of hazardous chemicals; and (10) developed institutional and legal framework of environment sector. These strategic objectives will be addressed through a unified and comprehensive approach, since they are integrated and interrelate with each other.The implementation of this Strategy is presented in the Action Plan. It covers the first phase of Strategy implementation and will be followed by future plans. A number of ministries, governmental, non-governmental and private institutions will participate in implementing this Plan, while the Ministry of Environment will undertake coordination, follow-up and evaluation of the Plan programs and projects.The concept of sustainability is present throughout the document. It refers to fishery and agriculture. Development and management are always stressed as sustainable. In the Action Plan, sustainable are the program for public transport, the water resources management, the development of desert oases the Land use issue, the use of natural in vegetation and the use of biodiversity by creating a gene bank for local species, keeping bio models and samples, managing the genetically modified organisms and genetic products.To enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Policy states that the goals came as a result of the active participation of all stakeholders, governmental and non-governmental, and intensive consultations between the concerned parts. The document promotes: 1. engagement of different social categories, whether institutions or individuals, in decision making and implementation; 2. promoting concepts of voluntary work among individuals, groups and institutions to create a new reality and concepts of voluntary environmental work; 3. optimal use of natural resources without loss or damage to the natural environment or prejudice to the ecological balance or biodiversity; 4. adoption of policies and principles basically based on modern environmental concepts; 5. encouragement of methods of irrigations and cultivation with the highest efficiency and the least rate of loss, in particular focusing on using untraditional water, such as greywater, rainwater harvesting, industrial wastewater, wastewater, and treated water; 6. environmental monitoring and early warning of urgent cases via modern technologies; 7. databases on radiation sources; 8. sustainable and expanded public transport range, efficiency and coverage of urban areas and developing the urban planning principles to increase the number and quality of transport services in the suburbs.For increasing the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises, the policy plans the following activities: organizing public participation guidelines to prevent and control the danger by providing a technical and moral media base; promoting public awareness; obliging producers or importers of different products to observe the legislation which ensures reducing the use of fossil fuel, decreasing the production and manufacturing of wastes, developing products to become recyclable and importing environment-friendly materials; identifying and evaluating hazardous chemicals; inventorying and disposing chemical residues; controlling the circulation of toxic and hazardous chemicals; controlling land degradation and combatting desertification; creating oases and green belts around cities and regions affected by desertification; activating programs to monitor non-oil pollution sources to learn how they reach the marine environment and determine ways to prevent and reduce its associated risks; planning coastal area use and developing and implementing programs to protect marine environment from oil e non-oil pollution.In the context of Governance, the Strategy specifies that: (a) the Ministry of Environment is the national umbrella supervisor of the environment sector; (b) the supervisory and inspection role of MoE bodies needs to be strengthened; (c) workers at MoE and relevant institutions require an integrated plan for internal and external training and qualification.
