On July 23 the United Nations announced an $11 million plan to restore the marshlands of southern Iraq, former home of the nation's Marsh Arabs. Since the United States ousted Saddam Hussein, engineers have reflooded about one-fifth of the marshlands' former area. But U.N. experts say that painstaking restoration efforts to balance the salt level and plant life are needed if the ecosystem is to be sustained.
The project, fully funded by the Japanese government, will also supply much-needed drinking water and sanitation services to current settlements. Twelve communites will be the initial recipients of small, solar-powered water treatment systems, and reed beds
