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Iraq’s Garden of Eden Comes Back to Life

Thanks to the work of non-profit group Nature Iraq, Iraq's Mesopotamian marshes -- the original Garden of Eden -- are being restored following Saddam Hussein's destruction.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on July 12 2010
nature iraq

Photo by Nature Iraq

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During his reign as dictator of Iraq, Saddam Hussein destroyed millions of lives—but his destruction of the country’s environment hasn’t received as much notice. During the early 1980s, his regime drained the Mesopotamian marshes, the actual location of the Bible’s Garden of Eden, and constructed walls around the wetlands. Countless animals and plants were killed, and the people who relied on the water for sustenance were forced to leave their homeland.

But finally, the Garden of Eden is returning to life, thanks to a group of conservationists, including the organizations Birdlife International and Nature Iraq.

Nature Iraq was founded by Azzam Alwash, a civil engineer who returned to Iraq to help repair the marshes after many years living in the United States. When he arrived, he found that many locals had already begun to break up the embankments, “not because they are tree-huggers or bird-lovers, but because it’s a source of economic income to them, because they can harvest reeds and sell them. They can fish and feed a family or sell them to earn extra income,” he told The Guardian.

Through Nature Iraq, Alwash has set up training programs for locals to help restore the marshes and monitor the wildlife there. The most difficult part of the job, says Alwash, is traveling the road around the marshes, where there is always a risk of insurgent attacks. The Nature Iraq team always takes guards with them to secure their safety.

Thanks to the work that Alwash and his organization have done, the marshes are coming back to life: half of the original marshland has been restored to its former glory, and the team is working to repair the rest of the damage. There’s still work to be done, but it sounds like the Garden of Eden may flourish yet again.

Filed under: Green, Non-Profits,

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