Photo: AFP

In southern Iraq, putrid water gushes out of waste pipes into marshes reputed to be home to the biblical Garden of Eden, threatening an already fragile world heritage site.

Source: Ancient Mesopotamian marshes threatened by Iraqi sewage, pollutants

Pope Francis expected to visit the ancient southern Iraqi city of Ur on Saturday.

Source: Pope to visit ancient city of Ur, ‘the cradle of civilization’

Salman Khairalla is an Iraqi activist who’s been fighting to protect his country’s marshes, a key water resource, since 2007.

Source: Rebuilding Iraq starting from water. The story of Salman Khairalla – LifeGate

Thirty years after Saddam Hussein starved them of water, Iraq’s southern marshes are blossoming once more thanks to a wave of ecotourists picnicking and paddling down their replenished river bends.

Source: Iraqis turn to budding ecotourism to save marshes

This time last year, most of Iraq’s historic marshlands were dry, desiccated by upstream damming and a chronic lack of rainfall.

Source: Unexpected rainfall revives Iraq’s historic marshlands

Tourists are slowly beginning to return to the ancient Sumerian city of Ur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, raising hopes among some locals.

Source: Iraq’s ancient city of Ur: source of law, site of wonder

Despite an environmental crisis, award-winning expert Azzam Alwash believes that Iraq can revive its agriculture

Source: Can Iraq beat the drought and become the breadbasket of the Middle East again?

Iraq – The Ahwar of Southern Iraq: Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities

Living in arched reed houses and relying on water buffalo along with rice, barley, wheat and pearl millet for sustenance, the inhabitants of these wetlands – the so-called Marsh Arabs – maintained for centuries a lifestyle that was both unique and separate from the rest of the Middle East.

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