Kuwait ( CNN ) -- A former military bunker in the desert is one of the last places you might expect to find nature bloom . But above a maze of abandoned foxholes to the north of Kuwait 's capital lies a landscape that shimmers green and purple with vegetation , attracting foxes , migratory birds and other wildlife . The Sabah Al-Ahmad nature reserve occupies land that once served as an important base for Saddam Hussein 's army during its invasion of Kuwait from 1990-1 . Iraq 's annexation of its southern neighbor , which began in August 1990 and lasted until the liberation the following February , had a devastating impact not only on Kuwait 's people , but its ecology , said Dr Samira Omar Asem of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research . One of Kuwait 's leading environmental scientists , with three decades experience in resource conservation , Asem has played a major role in restoring Kuwait 's war-ravaged ecosystems as head of the United Nations Compensation Commission 's environmental remediation program . The body was established in 1991 to process claims and pay compensation damages suffered as a result of the occupation of Kuwait , and processed its final claim in 2005 . The war , said Asem , resulted in `` a lot of aggression against the environment '' -- most infamously , the destruction of Kuwait 's oil fields as part of Hussein 's `` scorched earth '' policy on retreat . More than 700 wells were destroyed , choking the skies with black smoke in an inferno that raged for eight months before firefighters eventually extinguished the blaze . But substantial damage was inflicted during the occupation as well . As the Iraqi army swept through the country , it built an elaborate system of fortifications , destroying the fragile desert ecosystem . About 24,000 fortifications were built in the area of the reserve alone , she said . `` I saw these bunkers immediately after liberation , '' she said . `` They had services established under the ground . So you can imagine ... a natural reserve is being converted into a headquarters for military activities . The whole reserve was full of ammunition . '' The abandoned , unexploded ordnance , combined with oil from leaks or deliberately flooded trenches , has left a hazardous environment for rehabilitation workers to operate in . `` All this heavy machinery and vehicles caused a lot of soil compaction , changed the landscape , and allowed more sand to move and caused a lot of erosion , '' she said . At the Sabah Al-Ahmad nature reserve , environmental remediation has involved planting trees and building ponds to bring back wildlife , resulting in a flourishing desert ecosystem . `` This is a major achievement for the government of Kuwait , to preserve the natural history for the new generations and the existing generations , '' she said . `` It is our contribution for the international community to say that we are serious about protecting our environment . '' But the reserve is only a first step . More than one billion barrels were burned and spilled in the oil field destruction at the end of the war , and the country still bears the scars of that legacy . Outside the reserve , the deserts remain affected , with large lakes of oil -- caused by leaked crude oil mixing with the billions of gallons of seawater used to extinguish the flames -- contaminating the sands across about 100 square kilometers of desert . The clean-up effort , says Asem , still has a long way to go . Follow the Inside the Middle East team on Twitter : Reporter : Zain Verjee : @ zainverjeecnn , producer Jon Jensen : @ jonjensen , producer Schams Elwazer : @ SchamsCNN , writer Tim Hume : @ tim_hume and digital producer Mairi Mackay @ mairicnn .
Kuwait was ecologically devastated during its annexation by Iraq in 1990 - 1 . Environmental scientists have been working to restore the environment . Iraqi troops dug extensive military fortifications in the desert , upsetting the ecosystem . On land , they destroyed many oil wells in a ` ` scorched earth '' campaign .