TIME magazine has selected three environmental activists working together across political borders to save the Dead Sea as heroes of the environemnt 2008. Here is the article from TIME   The Holy Land is dying of thirst. Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories may once have been lands of milk and honey, but their fragile, semidesert ecosystem has been unable to withstand 60 years of overdevelopment,... [read more]

It is Bin Laden in the spotlight but not the notorious Osama. This time it is Tareq Bin Laden, one of the main construction businessmen in the Middle East trying to launch a pioneering project to build the first of one hundred "cities of light" with perfect environmental standards, and bridging the Red Sea in the process. Who is reporting on this? The Economist.      Jul 31st 2008 | DJIBOUTI... [read more]

The Somali coastal waters are not just infested with pirates in a state failing to enforce proper laws, they are used as a "dumping sea" for toxic wastes from some European countries. The concerns have been raised by the UN. More in this report published in Middle East Online   UNITED NATIONS - The UN special envoy for Somalia on Friday sounded the alarm about rampant illegal fishing and the... [read more]

Source: IRIN news   DUBAI - Ahmad Issa, 41, has been fishing in Lake Maryut [also spelt Maryout or Marriout] near the port city of Alexandria for the last 30 years. Like thousands of other fishermen, Issa said he was constantly getting skin diseases caused by the polluted water. "I can't hold anything in my hands when my skin is infected. Doctors prescribe ointments, but even with them... [read more]

Source: The Peninsula 25.2.2008   Qatar University's Environmental Studies Center (ESC), in collaboration with Qatar Petroleum (QP), has initiated the project for the introduction of artificial coral reef, a method which is fast becoming approved internationally to encourage the growth of coral reefs and ultimately enhance their ecosystem. “The reefs, an important part of Qatar's ecosystem,... [read more]

Press release Feb 24, 2008   A persistent shortage of potable water in the City of Algiers, Algeria was eased today as the US $250 million Hamma Seawater Desalination Plant (SWDP) was officially opened by Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Jeff Garwood president and CEO, GE Water Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Completed on time and on budget... [read more]

By: Mohammad Yahia Published by: Islam Online     Every summer, over one million tourists flock to Alexandria, Egypt, to enjoy the sun and the beaches. The historic city, with its magical charm, is also home to four million people. But the beautiful fragile coastal city of the Mediterranean Sea stands to lose much from the imminent danger of climate change, and it may not even be Egypt's... [read more]

Fellow Tunisian blogger Subzero blue has published the story of another invention from the UAE. This time it is a floating solar island, conceptualised by the Swiss Firm CSEM and to be built with UAE money. For once I do not see this as a useful and strategic environmental innovation. Building Islands is a strange trend in the Gulf countries, and it causes a drastic impact on the marine environment... [read more]

It has always been known from global warming predictions scenarios that the Nile Delta region in Egypt is highly vulnerable to any expected rise in sea water levels due to climate change. This fact has pushed Egypt show high interest in climate change research and adaptation measures, unlike most Arab countries still stuttering with the political and economic hurdles against full engagement in climate... [read more]

By: Batir Wardam   You will have to search several locations in the World to find a situation similar to Aqaba’s: Jordan’s only outlet to the sea. This is a unique case of a confined, fragile and exquisite ecosystem subject to the cumulative effect of the “triangle of environmental threats”: Industry, tourism and transport. The Jordanian segment of the Gulf of Aqaba is only 27 Km. Being the... [read more]

Source: Arabian Business By Conrad Egbert 16 June 2007   With global warming showing no signs of abating, this month's Cyclone Gonu in Oman has reinforced the need for waterfront and offshore construction projects to account for severe weather conditions and the possibility of drastic environmental changes in the near future. One such example is The Wave, Muscat, a mixed-use development... [read more]

Source: Jordan Times 8-6-2007   By Dalya Dajani  AQABA — Beneath the pristine waters of this Red Sea resort, a concrete paradise is giving Mother Nature and the local fishing community a helping hand. Emerging from a featureless sandy bed in the northernmost tip of the Aqaba coast, an artificial reef has been steadily thriving over the past two years as a safe haven for the fragile marine... [read more]

Source: Gulf Daily News   Bahrain risks losing all its vital coral reefs unless action is taken immediately, an environmental expert warned yesterday. British biologist Dr Charles Sheppard said that excessive excavation, land reclamation, landfill, illegal dumping and pollution - among other things - were already to blame for the destruction of one major coral reef in the country's waters... [read more]

An interesting environmental remediation effort was conducted lately by Qatargas Co. in an attempt to mitigate the impacts of a future pipeline corridor within the Company's expansion plan. This news item is from "Arab News" and I hope the truth is as good as the promotional highlight.   Qatargas has completed a major initiative as part of its ongoing environmental commitment for its expansion... [read more]

BY JAMAL HALABY - Associated Press May 6, 2007 GHOR HADITHA, Jordan (AP) - Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Arabs are slowly pushing through the tangle of their disputes and suspicions in a race to save a biblical and ecological treasure, the Dead Sea. The famously salty sea, which lies at Earth's lowest point, is shrinking. It has receded by some three feet a year for the past 25 years, and... [read more]

Arab News April 13th 2007   Official research has revealed that private investors own around 96 percent of the Kingdom’s coastal areas, leaving only four percent for public use. The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Metrological and Environmental Protection Administration and the Coast Guards jointly conducted the study of the Kingdom’s coast. A recent... [read more]

Source: Jordan Times   By Mohammad Ben Hussein  AMMAN – The World Bank on Wednesday invited international companies to bid for a $15.5 million feasibility study to examine the environmental and social impacts of the Red-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project on the surrounding countries. “The overall objective of the study is to evaluate the conveyance of water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea... [read more]

Source: Gilf Times   By Arvind Nair THE Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture has issued a severe warning to boat owners, fishermen and others against polluting the waters and coastal areas. The Beaches and Islands Monitoring Unit at the ministry said strict action would be taken against those flouting the rules on sanitation and environment. Rules pertaining to marine and coastal protection... [read more]

Source: Middle East Online   AMMAN - Pollution, over-fishing and the destruction of marine habitat are driving commercial fisheries in the port city of Aqaba, 250km south of Amman, to the brink of collapse, environmentalists and fishermen said on Sunday. “Immediate action must be taken to stop the ongoing depletion of fish stocks and damage to the eco-system,” said Fadi Sharaiha of the Royal... [read more]

 Source: Al Bawaba Nakheel, the UAE’s leading real estate developer, has taken another significant step forward in ensuring the long-term sustainability of its offshore developments following the signing of a strategic agreement with the United Nations University (UNU). The agreement on Marine Ecosystem Management engages a team of leading coastal management experts and includes a review of Nakheel’s... [read more]

The first EWS-WWF Marine Conservation Forum took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on September 11-14, 2006. The Forum provided an opportunity for the region’s environmentalists to share concerns about the region’s coral reef and marine turtle populations and collaborate on potential solutions. Representatives from Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and... [read more]

Jordanian magazine "Jordan Business" has recently published a thorough analytical article on the joint statement by Jordan, Israel and Palestine to conduct a feasibility and environmental impact study for the proposed Red-Dead Canal.   This is the full text of the article:   Last month, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel launched a two-year feasibility study for a project to replenish... [read more]

Another interesting article from the Jordanian economic expert Yousef Mansour published by the Jordan Times on January 9th   Yusuf Mansur Can the dead be revived? No, but if we are speaking of the Dead Sea, it is possible, and with water, too! How simple the cure is. The new-old initiative of connecting the Red Sea with the Dead Sea is the most important economic project for the sustainable... [read more]

Source: Middle East Online   RABAT - Morocco's parliament has ratified an agreement with the European Union that radically reduces the number of European boats allowed to fish in Moroccan waters, a parliamentary source said. The fishing accord was signed in Brussels between Morocco and the EU on July 28, 2005, but needed to go through parliament, the source said. The deal cuts the number... [read more]

The Mediterranean Network of Basin Organisations (MENBO) and GWP-Med organised a Cooperation Session on the Mediterranean Basin, together with MENBO’s 4th General Assembly preceding the Euro-Mediterranean Water Directors Conference. During the Session, which took place in Athens on the 5th of November, several projects (TWINBASIN, MELIA, GEWAMED, SPI-Water), organisations (IME, GWP-Med and EMWIS)... [read more]

This is an opinion article published in the Jordan Times by Dr Dureid Mahasneh the former Secretary General of the Jordan Valley Authority and a former leading water negotiator in the Jordanian-Israeli water negotiations associated with the Jordan-Israel peace treaty. This article is about the Red-Dead Seas canal.   By Dureid Mahasneh Finally a concrete step towards starting the Red Sea Dead... [read more]

Source: Jordan Times   By Hana Namroqa AMMAN — Jordan and the World Bank on Tuesday held a meeting to discuss how to proceed with the Red-Dead Canal feasibility study, a World Bank official said.  Jordan, the Palestinians and Israel agreed on Sunday to proceed with the study of a $2-4 billion project to top up the Dead Sea with water from the Red Sea through a 180km pipeline. During yesterday’s... [read more]

Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), United Nations, October 16, 2006   As the Dead Sea slowly shrinks towards extinction, fears are growing that the saltiest body of water on earth will not disappear without taking a few lives along with it. The Dead Sea has fallen more than 20 meters over the past 40 years. Studies by scientists at the University of Jordan have shown... [read more]

The European Commission this week proposed a long-term environmental strategy for cleaning up the Mediterranean Sea. This unique ecosystem is deteriorating as environmental pressures increase. The major oil spill that occurred during the recent conflict in Lebanon has dramatically highlighted the vulnerability of the region's environment. A key pillar of the strategy is 'Horizon 2020', an initiative... [read more]

From: Daily Star By Iman Azzi TABARJA: Most of the rainbows glimmering on the surface of the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon are the unfortunate results of the attack by Israeli warplanes on the Jiyyeh power plant on July 12 and again three days later. However, a larger, bolder and more ecologically correct rainbow has now entered Lebanon's harbor, hoping to lend a hand, or a fin,... [read more]