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AROUND THE WORLD 3: Wetland Recovery in Iraq

Most of the images that we see from Iraq are of soldiers making their way through what seems like a dusty, hot desert. However, many people are unaware that southern Iraq was once home to a vast marshland before it was almost completely destroyed under Saddam Hussein’s leadership. On Wednesday, the United Nations Environmental Program announced that the wetlands in Iraq are making a remarkable recovery.

Before its destruction, Iraq’s marshlands covered almost 9,000 square kilometers and were home to a variety of animals. Marsh Arabs, whose ancestors developed a civilization in the wetlands 5,000 years ago, also call the wetlands home. However, during the 1970s, Hussein built dams and drained the wetlands, leaving the local residents without fresh water and the animals without a breeding ground. At its worst point in 2002, the marshland covered only 760 square kilometers. Now the area has returned to 37 percent of its original size. Before the hot summer sun evaporated some of the water, the marshlands were up to almost 50 percent of their previous size.

The U.N. Environmental Program received images from a satellite that is a part of a project called the Iraqi Marshlands Observation System. The pictures from space showed a “rapid increase in water and vegetation cover over the last two years,” according to a U.N. statement reported by CNN. Scientists will need to test the soil to better understand how fully the marshlands have recovered.

After Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003, residents and officials began to open floodgates and start restoration projects to bring the water back to their homeland.

--Written by Morgan Diamond

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