26/8/2005
Iraq’s “Garden Of Eden” On Its Way To Recovery

Iraq’s fabled marshlands of Mesopotamia, considered by some to be the original "Garden of Eden,” are recovering at phenomenal speed, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) said last week.

They were ravaged by a vast drainage operation carried out by Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

In 2001, UNEP released satellite images showing that 90 per cent of these wetlands, home to rare and unique species like the sacred ibis and African darter, and a spawning ground for fisheries, had been lost. Experts feared the entire wetlands could disappear by 2008.

Now almost 40 per cent of the marshlands have recovered to their 1970s condition and the new satellite images have revealed a rapid increase in water and vegetation cover over the last two years.

UNEP’s multi-million dollar marshlands project, launched a year ago with funding from the Government of Japan, is helping Iraq restore the environment and provide clean drinking water for up to 100,000 people living in the marshlands.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said the marshlands’ rapid revival “must be seen as a contribution to wider peace and security for the Iraqi people and the region as a whole”. However, he noted that while the re-flooding bodes well for the marshes, their recovery would take many years.

The challenge now is to restore the environment and provide clean water and sanitation services, UNEP said.