THE Marsh Arabs of Iraq have given up waiting for outsiders to restore their wetlands. Local people are taking matters into their own hands by breaching dykes and shutting down pumping stations in a bid to restore the marshes drained by Saddam Hussein’s regime. But some experts worry that their actions could hamper the region’s recovery.
Five months ago, Â鶹´«Ã½ reported that an international team of wetland experts, backed by the US State Department, planned to gradually re-flood the wetlands (26 April, p 14). But reports from inside Iraq reveal this plan is increasingly irrelevant.
Even as Saddam’s…
