In the early 1990s, Saddam Hussein ordered the draining of southern Iraq's great marshes. It was one of the biggest environmental disasters of the twentieth century, and with it an ancient way of life - dating back thousands of years - was almost wiped out. Witness talks to Iraqi environmentalist Azzam Alwash, who is trying to restore the marshes, and to journalist Shyam Bhatia, who saw them being destroyed.

Photograph: An Iraqi Marsh Arab looks out across a barren stretch of the marshes of southern Iraq. Credit: Essam al-Sudani/AFP/Getty Images)