Iraq's marshlands, once drained by Saddam Hussein, named world heritage site

A marsh Arab woman carries a bundle of grass in Nassiriya, south-east of Baghdad. Unesco has named the Iraqi Marshlands - one of the world's largest inland delta systems - as a World Heritage Site. Photo: Reuters

A wetland in south-east Iraq, thought to be the biblical Garden of Eden and almost completely drained during Saddam Hussein's rule, has become a Unesco world heritage site, Iraqi authorities said recently.

Fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the marshlands of Mesopotamia are spawning grounds for Gulf fisheries and home to bird species such as the sacred ibis. They also provide a resting spot for thousands of wildfowl migrating between Siberia and Africa.