Dr. Azzam Alwash

Over the last two decades, the Mesopotamia Marshlands in Southern Iraq—an area twice the size of the Florida Everglades—have suffered massive environmental degradation. But some parts of the region are starting to return to health. Dr. Azzam Alwash, founder of the non-profit environmental organization Nature Iraq talks about his efforts to restore the marshlands and the push to name the area Iraq’s first national park.

The Tigris River is one of the most important bodies of water in the Middle East, but years of extensive toxic dumping and gravel mining have severely compromised its ecosystem. We’ll speak with Humbolt Baykeeper Executive Director Pete Nichols and Nature Iraq founder Dr. Azzam Alwash about efforts to clean up the river and the newly founded group, Upper Tigris Waterkeeper.

The marshlands of southern Iraq and Iran were once the largest in western Eurasia, encompassing an area larger than the Florida Everglades. During the 1990s, under Saddam Hussein, damming and drainage projects almost completely destroyed them. It’s been called one of the world's greatest environmental disasters. Dr. Azzam Alwash of ...