BASRA, Iraq, June 29 (Reuters) - As Aymen al-Rubaye plants mangrove seedlings in the sprawling tidal flats of southern Iraq, the black smoke rising over the skyline behind him shows the ecological damage that he is toiling to undo.
Rubaye, an agricultural engineer, is working for a project started by Iraqi government bodies and a United Nations agency to grow up to 4 million mangrove trees in the Khor al-Zubair mudflats region, located near major oil fields.
The tidal flats south of Basra are a baking landscape of water, salt, mud and hazy sky, riven by channels that Rubaye and his team navigate by boat.
[1/5]Engineer Ayman Al-Rubaie, 47, plants mangrove trees in the wooded areas of the Shatt Al-Arab River, in Basra, Iraq June 21, 2023.
Mangrove plants "can resist these harsh conditions we are passing through" without needing irrigation water, Rubaye said.
Persons:
pats, Ayman Al, Essam, Rubaye, Ahmed Albaaj, Angus McDowall, Peter Graff
Organizations:
United, World Bank, REUTERS, United Arab Emirates, Thomson
Locations:
BASRA, Iraq, United Nations, Khor, Basra, . Southern Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab