Message #26135

[Bianca]

Luckily, Saddam didn't quite finish the job. The easternmost of the three main wetland areas, the Hawizeh marsh, was damaged in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War, and parts are still mined and dangerous. But a section of it remains pristine and could provide a valuable model for restoration efforts, says Suzie Alwash, senior project adviser for Eden Again.
Another bright spot: Because the damage to the land is relatively recent, even parched areas may have intact sediment beds, which could hold seeds from the vanished marshes. This ecological legacy could be supplemented, says Alwash, by seeds and plants from the Hawizeh marsh. And because Saddam drained the marshes rather than filling them in, the original depressions and channels remain, ready to be reflooded. The marshes' dominant species–reed–is as tough as nails and may be easy to reintroduce to newly inundated lands, says Jeanne Christie, executive director of the Association of State Wetland Managers.

Yet a shattered ecosystem can never be fully reconstructed, wetlands experts say. "I prefer the term 'rehabilitated' to 'restored,' " says Thomas Crisman, director of the Howard T. Odum Center for Wetlands at the University of Florida. " 'Restored' means putting it back the way it was–and that's unrealistic." He believes success should be defined as rebuilding a landscape that performs the same basic ecological functions as its predecessor, such as providing habitat for birds and fishes.

That's starting to happen in a few newly reflooded areas, although scientists worry that the meager flows in some spots could do more harm than good by creating lifeless ponds. But it will take determination–and a lot more water–to go further. "It's a great cause," says Duke's Richardson, "but it will take the political will of the new Iraqi government, the United States, and international organizations to make it happen."