Iraq’s fertile delta of shallow lakes, mudflats, and floodplains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has supported life for millennia and society dating back to the Sumerians in the 2nd millennium BC. But this wetland ecosystem, this the Cradle of Civilization, almost didn’t survive into the 21st century.
Following Saddam Hussein’s campaign to drain the marshes and drive out their inhabitants in the 1990s, just 7 percent of the original 4.9 million acres of Iraqi wetlands remained.
This Sunday, 60 Minutes travels to Iraq with Azzam Alwash, founder of Nature Iraq, one of the cadre of local and international NGOs working to restore the marshes and return their inhabitants.
“It’s true. A clean environment is a rich man’s concern,” Alwash told Men’s Journal in November 2008, adding, “But the poor people didn’t flood the area because they’re treehuggers; they did it because their economies depended on it.”
For more on the ecology of the region, read “Why Haven’t We Cleaned Up Iraq?” by Nathaniel Fick from the May 2006 issue of Men’s Journal.
“Resurrecting Eden” airs on 60 Minutes this Sunday, November 15th (7pm Eastern/6pm Central on CBS).
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