‘If I say “Iraq”, what do you see?’ asks Iraqi engineer and environmentalist Azzam Alwash. ‘A harsh desert? War? Oil? Saddam?’ He pauses and closes his eyes, conjuring up his own vision of Iraq. ‘I see majestic mountains and an incredible, magical water world right in the middle of the desert.’
The Mesopotamian marshlands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were known as the site of the Garden of Eden, the birthplace of civilization and an environmental miracle: in the middle of a desert, an oasis of aquatic life filled with lush reed-beds, water buffalo and birds. The Marsh Arabs lived there, just as their Sumerian ancestors did thousands of years ago, building their houses from the reeds, fishing and drinking water buffalo milk.
