Iraq's "Garden of Eden" is to become the country's first national park, after plans were approved by its Council of Ministers.

The Mesopotamian Marshlands of southern Iraq were at one point the third-largest wetlands in the world, extending between 12,000sq km (7,456 sq m) and 15,000sq km (9,320sq m).

Following the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq's President, Saddam Hussein, cut off the nation's two major rivers, draining the Marshlands, which is widely believed to be home to the Biblical Garden of Eden – the paradise where Adam and Eve were created.

Despite the disappearance of 93 per cent of the marsh, all 278 recorded bird species remain.

"With this action, Iraq has acted to preserve the cradle of civilisation," said Nature Iraq president, Azzam Alwash. "It is now the duty of the world to help Iraq maintain these wetlands for future generations by helping Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran to reach an equitable agreement on the sharing of the waters in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates."

The declaration of Iraq's first national park is part of a wider aim by the Iraqi government to promote tourism, despite the ongoing deadly violence that much of the country currently faces.

Iraq already plays host to millions of Shiite Muslims, who go on annual pilgrimages to visit multiple shrines and holy sites, but officials in Baghdad want to promote tourism elsewhere, believing that visitor numbers can be trebled.

As of 2010, the number of tourist arrivals in Iraq was 1,518,000 - almost double that of 2008 when 864,000 visited the country.