Ms Gage said since the project began, iconic salt marsh plants such as glasswort, sea milkwort and salt marsh rush had returned to the site.

BBC: Salt marsh returns to bomb site at South Efford reserve

Asadi grew up in Chubayish and he was here when, just after the fall of Saddam's regime, the marsh people took shovels and broke Saddam's embankment, letting the water of the river rush out onto the plain.

NPR: Iraq's Marshlands Face A Second Death By Drought