In the 1990s, the Mesopotamian Marshes were virtually destroyed by Saddam Hussein, but Azzam Alwash is making an extraordinary effort to return life to the green paradise he remembers.

Engineer Azzam Alwash recalls his childhood memories of the Mesopotamian marshes, and his feelings upon his return to Iraq when the area had been reduced to an empty desert.

Learn about this threatened bird, endemic to southern Iraq's marshlands.

A great crested grebe chick is able to dive and swim at birth, but it's always nice to hitch a ride instead.

Predators haunt the wetland waters. Wild dogs come in for the kill, but they are driven off by lions, their age-old rivals.

(Part Two airs Sunday, March 15) Two great films provide an account of the inner workings of one of the last truly wild places on earth.