A one-room home made of elaborately woven palm reeds floats on the river surface. "I didn't think I would find somewhere so beautiful, and such a body of water in Iraq," said Habib al-Jurani. But heavier rains this year have filled more than 80 percent of the marshes' surface area, according to the United Nations, compared to just 27 percent last year. "Ecotourism is an important source of revenue for those native to the marshes," said Jassim al-Assadi, who heads Nature Iraq. - Long way to row -The numbers have steadily gone up in recent years, according to Assaad al-Qarghouli, tourism chief in Iraq's southern province of Dhi Qar.

Source: Bangkok Post May 22, 2019 03:49 UTC