n southern Iraq, where the Euphrates and Tigris rivers meet, the Fao peninsula was once known for its swathes of henna plants and palm trees. But the lush greenery of this Basra province district has now turned into a hardscrabble surface. Walking past dead palm trees on land so dry it cracks, farmer Abbas Abdul Hassan said water shortages and ensuing use of salty water from the polluted Shatt al-Arab river for irrigation had eaten up areas that grew henna plants, whose ground leaves make the dark paste used as a dye. “This land was packed with henna plants … the salty water tide killed the henna and killed palm trees,” he said. Once bearing some 425 farms producing 5,000 kilograms (11,023 lb) of henna leaves annually, mainly for […]