Garden of Eden grows again
Creatures thought to be gone for ever are reappearing and hopes are high that the former world-class wetland will recover its ecological health.
The Garden of Eden, some people think, actually existed. It was supposedly located near the junction of the two great rivers of ancient Babylon. Paradise or not, humans and beasts seem to have lived here in prosperous and idyllic harmony. The clear waters of the largest marsh in the Middle East teemed with fish. Millions of birds rested in its pools and reed beds on their journeys between Asia and Africa. The Basra reed warbler bred here and nowhere else in the world.