HUWAIZAH (Iraq): A fishing boat glides quietly across the waters of Iraq’s southern marshes, sending gentle ripples shimmering over the once-parched wetlands, now revived by long-awaited rains.

Running through almost the entire Huwaizah Marshes, the returning water is dotted with patches of greenery, with buffaloes soaking in it or wandering slowly nearby, grazing on the lush grass.

The wetlands are part of the protected biodiversity of these millennia-old Mesopotamian marshes.

Years of drought, blamed on climate change and upstream dams in neighbouring countries, have ravaged Iraq’s marshes — the reputed home of the biblical Garden of Eden — nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

But a few rainy spells this winter have revived hope. As he sailed his long wooden boat, wearing his white abaya and keffiyeh, fisherman Kazem Kasid told AFP that “life will return, along with the fish and livestock, and people will feel that their homeland and future have been restored”.

Iraq’s water ministry has said the reservoirs on the Tigris River are almost full, adding that it expects water levels in the Euphrates to rise in the coming days if Syria releases water from its dams.

As a result, the marshlands are experiencing “a relative revival”.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2026