Restoring Iraq's Marshes

There used to be large natural marshlands in Iraq, full of villages such as this one.  The marshes were home to hundreds of species of migratory birds, as well as wildlife local to Iraq.  Each little island you see is made of dried reeds, and each house you see is also made of dried reeds.

A photo slideshow of what Iraq's marshes used to look like.  All the buildings you see are made using dried reeds.

THEN after the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein drained the majority of the marshes as a punishment for a failed uprising of some of the Marsh Arabs.  Many people were forced to flee or move elsewhere.

All of the water feeding the marshes, and the water in the marshes themselves, was diverted into a huge canal that went straight to the Gulf. 

The marshes turned into this:

After the Iraqi invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein, a few people and organizations have made attempts to break the walls of the canal and reflood the marshes.

Here are two videos made since then about the rehabilitation process:

2004

2009

Map of the Marshes in 1976.

 Map of the Marshes in 2000.

http://www.iraqfoundation.org/projects_new/edenagain/index.html