The Destruction of Iraq's Marshes

Available for over a year

In the early 1990s, Saddam Hussein ordered the draining of southern Iraq's great marshes. It was one of the biggest environmental disasters of the twentieth century, and with it, an ancient way of life - dating back thousands of years - was almost wiped out. We hear from the Iraqi environmentalist Azzam Alwash, who has been trying to restore the marshes, and to the journalist Shyam Bhatia, who saw the destruction.