Iraq's marshes were devastated in the 1980s and 1990s ...

An Iraqi rides a canoe in the waters of the marshes area near the southern city of Nasiriyah, 25 November 2007. Iraq's marshes were devastated in the 1980s and 1990s by executed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's campaign to drain them. Unable to live their traditional ways of life based on the waters of the marshes, tens of thousands of marsh-dwellers fled to southern Iran. Reflooding of Iraq's destroyed marshes since 2003 has resulted in a reestablishment of residents as well as native invertebrates, plants, fish, and birds.

Iraqis ride their canoes in the waters of the marshes area near the southern city of Nasiriyah, 25 November 2007. Iraq's marshes were devastated in the 1980s and 1990s by executed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's campaign to drain them. Unable to live their traditional ways of life based on the waters of the marshes, tens of thousands of marsh-dwellers fled to southern Iran. Reflooding of Iraq's destroyed marshes since 2003 has resulted in a reestablishment of residents as well as native invertebrates, plants, fish, and birds.