Biodiversity fact sheet WEST ASIA

8/7/2019 Biodiversity fact sheet WEST ASIA

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State of Biodiversity in West Asia | 1

A. Background

1. West Asia benets rom a wealth obiological diversity that harnesses avariety o terrestrial, reshwater and

coastal ecosystems and associatedhabitats. The West Asian regioncomprises the Mashriq subregion(Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the OccupiedPalestinian Territory and the SyrianArab Republic), characterized byconditions ranging rom Mediterraneanhumid to semi-arid, and the Arabianpeninsula (Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait,Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United ArabEmirates and Yemen), dominated byconditions ranging rom semi-arid todesert arid. West Asia is part o threeeco-regions that incorporate a varietyo ecosystems, including Mediterraneanorests, deserts, plains, rangelands,savannas, oases, mountains, rivers,lakes, springs, mudfats, swamps,marshes, mangroves, seagrass bedsand coral rees, all o which providea wide array o ecosystem servicesand ecological corridors or migratoryspecies through the region. Societiesin West Asia depend heavily on thenutritional, industrial and health

benets o the regions biodiversity,

which are harvested without a trueunderstanding o the value that theyrepresent or ecosystem unctioning,and yet biodiversity is one o the mainactors contributing to sustainabledevelopment in West Asia, in particular

by supporting agricultural ecosystems(animals and plants).

B. Status of biodiversity in2010

2. Three o the worlds 34 biodiversityhot spots are located in West Asia(Environment Outlook or the ArabRegion EOAR, 2010)1: the Irano-Anatolian region, the Mediterraneanorest region and the Horn o Arica

region, including the Arabian peninsulaand the Socotra archipelago in Yemen(Conservation International, 2007).2The last mentioned is a World HeritageSite known or its rich biodiversitywith 850 plant species, 254 (about 30per cent) o which are endemic. In

1 The Environment Outlook for the Arab Region (EOAR

2010). United Nations Environment Programme (Arabic

version). http://www.unep.org/dewa/westasia/eoar/ (Last

accessed 25 March 2010).

2 Conservation International (2007). Biodiversity Hotspots.

http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/hot-spots_by_region/Pages/default.aspx.

State ofBiodiversity

in West Asia


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this area currently eed over 38 percent o the worlds population. Wheatalone accounts or one third o globalood production (International Centreor Agricultural Research in the DryAreas (ICARDA) West Asia GlobalEnvironment Facility (GEF) project).10

10 ICARDA West Asia GEF Project (2010). Dryland Agrobio-diversity. http://www.icarda.org/gef/explain.html.

Date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, Darkulaibvillage, Bahrain

Note: there are more than 100 varieties odate palm in Bahrain

Cedars o Lebanon, Cedrus libani

hima-based enterprises in Saudi Arabiadropped rom 3,000 in 1969 to 9 in 1997(IUCN/WCPA, 2008).7

5. West Asia harbours wetlandsand water bodies o internationalsignicance, a number o which arelisted under the Ramsar Convention onWetlands o International Importance,Especially as Waterowl Habitat.Important rivers in the Mashriqinclude the Euphrates, the Tigris, theJordan and the Litani, which enjoy awide range o aquatic plant, sh andbird diversity, providing signicantecosystem services to the communitiesthat protect them. The Arabian

peninsula is characterized by oases,springs, swamps, coastal sabkhas (saltymudfats) and human-made waterbodies that act as important paths ormigratory birds and sustain reed bedsand rare endangered species o waterbirds o international importance.

6. Dryland agro-biodiversity in WestAsia is adapted to the regionsharsh climatic conditions. Some othe countries o the region possess

unique fora o their own. Among theestimated 350,000 species o plantsonly 200 species are domesticatedood sources and only 1520 speciesare o major economic importance,constituting 83 per cent o cultivatedood crops worldwide (EOAR, 2010).8

Interestingly, most o these major oodcrops originate in the Mediterraneandrylands o what is known as theFertile Crescent area, which contain 4o the 18 endemic fora hot spots. The

Near East is one o the three centreso origin o species used in agriculturedened by Hawkes (1983),9 serving asthe centre o origin or wheat, barley,lentils, orage species and many ruittrees. Species which originated rom

7 IUCN/WCPA (2008). WCPA North Africa and Middle East.

The World Conservation Union IUCN / World Commis-

sion on Protected Areas. http://cms.iucn.org/about/union/

commissions/wcpa/wcpa_work/wcpa_regions/wcpa_naf-

rica/index.cfm.

8 See footnote 1.

9 Hawkes (1983), The Diversity of Crop Plants. HarvardUniversity Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London.


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7. The coastal ecology o West Asia isvaried in nature and surrounded bymajor open, semi-closed and closedoceanic water bodies and marine

habitats. All its water bodies exceptthe Dead Sea enjoy an abundance omarine communities. The Red Seaincludes a wide range o species osh, seagrass, corals, invertebrates andsea turtles. The Arabian Sea is knownor a variety o unique shes, algae,invertebrates, shrimps and molluscs.The Gul o Aden and the sea areao the Regional Organization or theProtection o the Marine Environment(ROPME) are characterized byimportant ree shes and coral specieswith a unique tolerance to variationsin water temperature and high salinityrates. Lastly, the Mediterranean Seabenets rom comparatively richmarine resources, hosting 89 per cento the worlds marine varieties, with622 sponge species, 600 sh species,3 turtle species and 12 squid species(EOAR, 2010).11

Source: Fourth national report o the SyrianArab Republic12

11 See footnote 1.

12 SCBD (2010) Secretariat for the Convention of BiologicalDiversity: Fourth national Reports. http://www.cbd.int/

secretariat/.

Table 1

Red Sea species that have migrated to the East Mediterranean over the past 25 years

Species Family

Apogon taeniatus Apogon thrustoni Apogonidae

Callionymus flamentosus Callidnymidae

Cynoglossus sinus arabici Cynoglossidae

Hemiramphus far Hemiramphidae

Silhouettea aegyptia Oxyurichthys papuensis Gobiidae

Sargocentron rubrum Holocentridae

Leiognathus klunzingeri Leiognathidae

Stephanolepis diaspros Monacanthidae

C. Key biodiversity challengesin the region

8. West Asia has recently undergone

proound ecological changes. Accordingto ragmented assessments, theregion has suered a substantial losso biodiversity and a degradation ohabitats as a result o human activities.The environment is dominated bylimited water resources, a scarcityo arable land, ragile ecosystemsand episodic droughts. The relativelynarrow ecological corridors, and theclosed and semi-closed ocean areasthat surround the regions territory, in

addition to the limited connectivitycaused by ragmented habitats, renderthese ecosystems more sensitive to thethreats o climate change, thus limitingthe opportunities or species to migrateor adapt to the changes to whichthey are subjected. National, regionaland international eorts to conservebiodiversity and combat deserticationnotwithstanding, biodiversity in WestAsia is being degraded by the directpressures o modern development andcorrelated underlying indirect driverso biodiversity loss, such as population


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growth and inadequate economicsubsidies.

9. Moreover, West Asia has witnessed anabrupt surge in coastal development in

most o its main cities, owing to a rapidincrease in population growth over thepast 30 years. The regions populationis continuing to increase at more than3 per cent a year by about 3.6 percent a year in the Arabian peninsularsubregion and by about 2.7 per centa year in the Mashriq subregion (GEOData Portal, 2005).13 West Asias totalpopulation grew rom 36 million in1970 to 118 million in 2005. In theArabian peninsula, urban growth

patterns were much more rapid andare among the highest worldwide. Thisurbanization was accompanied by achange in consumption patterns andliestyles, triggered by nancial wealthrom oil resources in the Arab regionand the rise in oil prices during the1970s and 1980s.

10. In general, the increase in demandor ood, coupled with the economicpolicies o the region, has led to thespread o intensive agriculture systems

and the cultivation o marginal landto meet population needs. This hasresulted in an overexploitation onatural resources and the misuse oland, reshwater and marine resources.In addition, threats to biodiversitycomponents have been exacerbatedby the consequential reduced rangeo the species natural distribution.As a result, land degradation and theragmentation o unique terrestrialand aquatic ecosystems and loss

o habitats have become the mainbiodiversity issue in West Asia. Unlessrigorous measures are taken at thehighest levels to halt the loss inbiodiversity, the imbalance betweendevelopment and conservation islikely to intensiy in the uture and beurther compounded by the impacts oclimate change.

11. West Asia is also considered tobe one o the most arid regions othe world. The ecosystems in the

13 GEO Data Portal, (2005). http://geodata.grid.unep.ch/.

regions drylands are ragile and thedegradation o habitats and the loss orelated biodiversity are already leadingto irreversible situations, provoking

the migration o local communities,desertication and the spread o masspoverty. Severe water scarcity has beenworsened by heavy water demandin recent years rom urbanizationand industrialization. One o themain biodiversity challenges isposed by the management o waterresources and the maintenanceo inland water biodiversity. Theabsence o eective regulatorymechanisms, the overexploitationo groundwater and widespreadpollution are all contributing tourther water scarcity in the region.Pressures rom agriculture are causingthe salination o groundwater, thedepletion o resh water resources,the deterioration o soil biota and adecrease in land productivity. Thedegradation o dryland soils could alsobe a potentially signicant source ocarbon emissions. Limited ecosystemproductivity in all sectors is likelyto acilitate a shit to alternative

technologies in agriculture andsheries management, which mayin turn lead to the urther loss obiodiversity rom systems that pursueuniorm monoculture production atthe expense o other important geneticresources.


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Source: Fourth national report o Lebanon14

12. The depletion o groundwaterresources by unsustainable pumpinghas major eects on ecosystems in thedrought-dominated conditions o theregion. Wetlands in Iraq and Jordanhave been dramatically degraded. Thedrawing o groundwater or urbanand agricultural needs in Jordanhas resulted in the deteriorationo the Azraq wetlands and relatedecosystems and a drop in tourism

(EOAR, 2010).15

Water extraction ineastern Saudi Arabia and Bahrainover the past ew decades has ledto the degradation o many o theregions date-palm oases and naturalwater springs. Serious wetlandsdegradation has been observed insouthern Iraq, with the loss o 90 percent o lakes and marshlands due toland reclamation, the constructiono dams and drainage activities.The international community andthe United Nations system havepulled together to respond to thisloss, rehabilitating Mesopotamianmarshlands and working withmarshland communities on varioussustainable development initiatives.

14 See footnote 12.15 See footnote 1.

13. Forest cover has recently undergonesignicant losses and diebackprimarily as a result o climatechange, diseases and insect pests,orest res, illegal and excessiveuelwood collection and charcoalproduction, the conversion o orestsand rangelands to croplands and theclearing o orests or unplanned urbanexpansion. Destructive quarrying inmountain habitats takes place in some

countries or development purposes,thus exerting major stresses on theresilience o orest ecosystems. Inresponse to these problems, mostcountries have developed nationalaction plans to combat desertication,and have mounted reorestation andaorestation eorts with indigenousspecies in an endeavour to restoreorest ecosystems. Reorestationeorts, however, are more likely toresult in less diverse and more uniormecosystems, an outcome whichvalidates the argument that preventionthrough conservation is alwayspreerable to restoration.


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Source: UNEP report on support or the environmental management o the Iraqi marshlands,20042009.


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14. Terrestrial species and indigenousplants are lost through overgrazingin marginal lands. Tree species havebeen lost as a result o deorestationin Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Yemen.Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have lost avariety o animal and plants speciesthat used to thrive naturally.

The over-hunting o large mammalsand birds is another practice that has

adversely aected biodiversity in theregion. In most West Asian countriesthe regulations governing hunting areineective and legislation in this areais not enorced.

Examples o species depleted byoverhunting include the gazelle, whichhas been reduced both in number andrange; the Arabian oryx, Oryx leucoryx,which was driven to extinction inthe wild but has been successullyreintroduced through captive breeding;the Arabian bustard, which is now

extinct in Saudi Arabia; and thehoubara bustard, which has lost mosto its population (GEO-3, 2002).16

16 UNEP 2002. Global Environment Outlook GEO 3. UnitedNations Environment Programme, Nairobi

Azraq Wetland Reserve in Jordan

In1978,theRoyalSocietyfortheConservationofNatureestablishedtheAzraqWetlandReserve

to conserve the invaluable oasis located in the heart of Jordans eastern desert, which lies between

a limestone desert in the west and a basalt desert in the east. It is distinguished by lush marshland

andnaturalwatercollectionsthatformglitteringpoolsandstreams,givingAzraqitsname,whichis

the Arabic word for blue.

In1977,theRamsarConventionidentiedtheAzraqwetlandandtheadjacentQamudatas

amajorstationformigratorybirdsontheAfrican-Eurasianyway.Avarietyofbirdsocktothe

reserve each year, stopping for a short rest along their migration routes, staying for the winter,

orbreedingwithinthewetland.TheAzraqwetlandistheonlyoasisintheArabiandesertwitha

self-replenishing system that has enabled it to sustain itself throughout the years.

Unfortunately,thewetlandhassufferedanenvironmentaldisasterbecauseofthemisuseand

overuseofwaterfromtheAzraqbasin.Owingtoexcessivepumpingofwaterfromtheoasisto

large urban areas and the illegal drilling of artesian wells for agricultural purposes, water levels have

steadilydroppedoverthelast50years,startingtodecreasesignicantlyin1981andreaching

alarming rates in 1993. These high levels of water extraction have led to the extreme depletion ofthisnaturaloasis,dryingupmassiveareasofinvaluablewetlandmeasuringinexcessof25square

kilometres.

Withinternationalsupport,theRoyalSocietyfortheConservationofNaturebeganarescueeffort

in1994,managingtorestoreasignicantportionofthewetland,andaimstorestoredepleted

water levels by 10 per cent. So far, this target has not been achieved because of continued

waterpumping,lackofmanpower,andinsufcientexperienceinwetlandmanagement.Thanks,

however,toeffortsbyRSCN,manybirdspeciesforwhichAzraqwasoncerenownedarenow

returning and special boardwalks and bird hides have been constructed to enable visitors to

observeandenjoythem.Actatum.Lessicreenatquertanuliciaeiamultumdeatra?Sendamerces!

Source: Fourth national report of Jordan, 2010

Al-Shahaniya Oryx Centre in Qatar


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Fragmented orest cover Lebanon (Source:Fourth national report o Lebanon17)

15. There is considerable marine pollutionrom a range o agricultural andindustrial sources. Heavy navigationby oil tankers has also been causingsubstantial marine pollution in theregion. Oil and gas extraction andrecurrent oil spills, in addition to thedischarge into the sea o industrialefuents rom land-based sources,

are the main drivers o biodiversityloss. Examples o contamination havebeen ound to the north o the Sitraindustrial zone in Bahrain (ROPME2004),18 aecting major shrimp arminggrounds and thus threatening a majorsource o income to the countryseconomy. In the Mashriq subregionmany marine species such as turtlesand sponges are threatened by a

17 See footnote 12.

18 ROPME (2004) State of the Marine Environment Report:

ROPME Sea Area. Regional Organization for the Protec-tion of the Marine Environment, Kuwait City.

deterioration in water quality romthe discharge o sewage, wastewaterand sedimentation. Resultingeutrophication events are believed

to constitute the main cause o therecurrent red tides in recent yearson the east coast o Oman and in theROPME sea area. Some coastal areasin Lebanon were ound to be heavilypolluted by discharged wastewater,leading to the destruction o existingmarine lie.

16. Although sheries management ispractised to some extent in somecountries in West Asia, unsustainableshing by communities aficted by

extreme poverty continues to destroysh in massive numbers, oten at arate that prevents sh populationsrom replenishing themselves; 1.5million tons o sh are exploitedin the Mediterranean Sea (EOAR,2010),19 using illegal methods such asdynamite, poison bait and electricaldevices. The Red Sea has suered theloss o major marine vertebrates andbenthic invertebrate species and theshing communities dependent on this

sector are aced with extreme nanciallosses and poverty, urther encouragingthe illegal overexploitation o marinenatural resources.

17. The spread o invasive alien specieshas become another increasinglyserious problem in the region.Globalization and world tradehave contributed indirectly to theintroduction o oreign animal andplant species across terrestrial bordersand via ballast water, with resulting

ecological, economic and healthproblems. West Asia is part o the Arabregion and the International Union orConservation o Nature and NaturalResources (IUCN) has classied 551species o invasive species in theArab region as a whole. For example,in the Syrian Arab Republic Ziziphusmauritania is considered invasive;the red palm weevil, Rhynchophoruserrungiensis, has become one o theprincipal pests o date palms in the

19 See footnote 1.


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Arabian peninsula (EOAR, 2010);20Prosopis julifora in the United ArabEmirates has caused biodiversityloss o associated shrubs; the wild

cactus Opuntia spp. in Yemen hasinvaded rangelands and is now beingeradicated through mechanical means;and the house crow, Corvus splendens,is considered a widespread invasiveavian species. In the MediterraneanSea around 400 species o planktonhave been registered, some o whichare oreign to the seas ecosystem.Invasive alien species are paidrelatively little attention in the regionand hence ewer assessments areavailable to track trends in theirdistribution and population size.The lack o nancial and technicalresources has impeded the capacity oresearch laboratories and governmentagencies to improve their knowledgeabout invasive species, whileconcerned sectors such as agricultureand trade continue to have limitedaccess to education programmes aboutthis serious threat.

18. Biodiversity in marine ecosystems isthreatened by human encroachmenton to native habitats, mainly romphysical habitat alteration, sanddredging and reclamation to expandcoastal development, an observedrising trend in the Arabian peninsula.A large percentage o the gul coastlinehas been reclaimed; Bahrain, orexample, has expanded its coastlineby 40 square kilometres; 40 percent o Saudi Arabias coastline hasbeen developed, with the resultingdestruction o 50 per cent o its

mangroves (EOAR, 2010).21 In theROPME sea area, near the UnitedArab Emirates coast, the developmento massive marine articial islandshas been gaining momentumover the past decade. Prior spatialplanning and assessment o habitatdestruction has been ignored andonly limited sustainable managementprocedures have been implemented.Marine benthic species and corals

20 See footnote 1.21 See footnote 1

that support existing sh stockshave been buried or smothered byheavy construction activities andthe remaining species subjected to a

deterioration in water quality. Coralbleaching incidents have been reportedas a consequence o rising seawaterlevels, high temperatures and salinity.Furthermore, recent natural disasterssuch as the Gono hurricane havecaused algal blooms and resultedin red tides ollowing the heavysedimentation and turbidity on theOmani coast, which destroyed most othe marine lie in the vicinity.

19. The Gul Cooperation Council (GCC)

countries are responsible or about halthe worlds production o desalinatedwater, to meet their growing waterneeds. The environmental impactsassociated with desalination includethe impingement and entrainmento aquatic creatures in plant intakesand the discharge o rejected hotbrine, residual chlorine, trace metalsand anti-oaming and anti-scalingagents into the near-shore marineenvironment, with direct impacts onmarine biodiversity. Furthermore,wastewater recycling is widelypractised or irrigation in landscaping,thus contributing to soil nitricationrom efuents and inducing algalgrowth and the deterioration o waterquality in aquatic ecosystems. Largenumbers o deaths o sea turtles,dugongs, dolphins, seals and birds havebeen reported in the nearby coastalareas.

20. Biosaety has become a rapidly growing

area o concern or ecosystems andhealth in the region, notwithstandingthe benets o biotechnology orood security. Although some WestAsian countries such as Bahrain,Iraq, Kuwait and the United ArabEmirates have not yet ratied theCartagena Protocol, while othershave not set up or implementedsuitable rameworks to regulate theuse and transboundary movement ogenetically modied organisms andliving modied organisms, there is

evidence that biotechnology products


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are being experimented on or traded

in many countries. This issue requiresurgent attention. Nonetheless, urthercapacity-building eorts relating torisk assessment and the managemento genetically modied organismsand their impacts on health andbiodiversity continue to be required inthe region.

21. Uneven land tenure across the regionhas led to a mismanagement onatural resources and is hamperingthe implementation o adequate

administrative procedures. In addition,unregulated tourism has allowedaccess to ecologically important sitesand pristine habitats by motor sportsadherents and the inrastructure othe sport, resulting in considerablebiodiversity loss. The uniquetraditional knowledge, innovationsand practices associated with theseecosystems, which are essential tothe conservation o existing geneticresources, have become threatened.

22. Lastly, the lack o progress in achievingpeace and security in the region hasbeen a great barrier to biodiversityconservation in West Asia. Naturalresources are used unsustainably orsurvival purposes and conservation ispaid scant attention on the politicalagenda by decision makers in confict-riven territories. The Government oIraq and the Palestinian Authorityhave, however, been vigorouslypromoting regional biodiversity

activities and participating inbiodiversity conservation programmes,

although they continue to endure

hardships rom recurrent wars.Iraq has recently become the 192ndsignatory to the Convention onBiological Diversity.

D. Trends in the decline andextinction of species

23. Across the Arab region as a whole,1,084 species are threatened withextinction, 24 per cent o these beingsh, 22 per cent birds and 20 per centmammals (IUCN/WCPA 2008).22 In WestAsia, mammals have been undergoingmajor losses in populations as aconsequence o habitat destruction. Inthe Mashriq, the numbers and naturaldistribution o Capra ibex, and Gazellaspp. have been limited by geographicalarea. Leopard populations havedropped signicantly in the mountainso the Arabian peninsula (EOAR,2010).23 The Oryx leucoryx has becomeextinct in the wild but has beensalvaged through captive breeding

in a number o Arab countries. InSocotra, Yemen, 250 endemic speciesare threatened with extinction(Ministry o Water and Environmentand Environment Protection Agency,2005);24 in Oman 136 plant speciesare threatened and 46 per cent oall native species are endangered

22 See footnote 7.

23 See footnote 1.

24 Ministry of Water and Environment Environment Protec-

tion Agency (2005). National Biodiversity Strategy and

Action Plan for Yemen. UNDP/GEF/IUCN YEM/96/G31http://www.cbd.int/doc/world/ye/ye-nbsap-01-en.doc.

Marine biodiversity in Oman Arabian Gazelle, Gazella gazella cora, alSaleel, Oman


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(Ministry o Environment and ClimateAairs, 2001);25 in Jordan the birdspecies Pterocles alchata, Fulica atra,Ammoperdix heyi and Falco peregrinus

are classied as rare and endangered(Ministry o Environment, 2008).26

24. Wild medicinal plant species arebecoming rare or threatened withextinction because o habitatdestruction resulting rom changesin land use, excessive harvesting andharsh climatic conditions. In Jordan,Crocus hermoneus and Origanumsyriacum habitats have been reducedin size while Capparris decidua hasbecome threatened with extinction. In

Jebel El-Arab in the southern SyrianArab Republic, there is evidence that50 per cent o the loss o plant speciesis due to poor management practices.Coral bleaching in the ROPME seaarea has aected 20,000 squarekilometres o coral beds, representingapproximately 7.9 per cent o theworlds total coral cover (ROPME,2004).27 Dugong populations in Bahrain,Qatar and the United Arab Emirateshave been heavily aected by marine

construction activities that havedestroyed most o the seagrass beds onwhich they eed.

E. Country responses inpursuit of the 2010 targets

25. The determination o West Asiancountries to conserve and restorebiodiversity has been demonstratedthrough the ratication andimplementation o biodiversity-related multilateral environmental

agreements, protocols and regionalagreements and through their supportor the Millennium DevelopmentGoals, in particular goal 7, to ensureenvironmental sustainability, and goal1, to eradicate extreme poverty andhunger. The harnessing o synergieswith eorts to attain climate changemitigation and adaptation targets is

25 First report on the state of the environment in Jordan,

Ministry of the Environment, Amman.

26 See footnote 12.27 See footnote 17.

seen as an essential undertaking, giventhe inherent links between climatechange and biodiversity. Althoughsome parties to the Convention onBiological Diversity have reportedsuccesses in such matters as thegazetting o protected areas and thecommunity management o naturalresources, West Asia is in the sameposition as other regions in that ithas still ailed to meet the 2010 targeto achieving a signicant reductionin biodiversity loss. This ailure isprincipally attributable to the actthat biodiversity is undervalued andthe environment is not at the top othe political agenda. The region is nothomogeneous and it lacks the nancialand technical resources necessary toachieve regional conservation goals.Political will and environmentalawareness, coupled with the necessarylegislative and institutional reorms,are required to enhance the integration

o biodiversity in sectoral planning

Spiny-tailed Lizard, Uromastyx microlepis,Sakhir desert area, Bahrain

Sot coral Dendonephthya sp; Sergeantdamselfsh Abudefduf vaigiensis, UnitedArab Emirates


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and decision-making in economicalvaluation procedures.

26. Environmental impact assessmentstudies have been implemented to acertain extent in the region; as yet,however, public participation in theprocess is limited. Eorts must bemounted in the region to incorporatebiodiversity policies into nationaldevelopment planning processes inall economic sectors. In West Asian

countries, as is the case elsewhere,eective enorcement measures inbiodiversity conservation need supportrom decision makers and legislatorswho are ocially mandated withensuring the integration o economicvaluation o biodiversity in the marketand government taxation systems.

27. Endeavours to expand protectedareas and biosphere reserves in WestAsia have been gaining momentumin some countries, with the aim o

extending their proportion o overall

land cover to 10-15 per cent overthe coming 10 years. Protected areasand biosphere reserves in the Arabregion continue to be established andwetlands o international importanceare being registered under the RamsarConvention. Nevertheless, the overallarea under such protection remainssmall when compared to global eortstowards this target. For example, theproportion o protected areas in Jordanand Oman is below 6 per cent o the

countries total area, as compared toa worldwide ratio o over 12 per cent(UNEP, 2008)28. In West Asian countries,the number o international terrestrialand aquatic protected areas rose rom120 in 1970 to 231 in 2007, totalling87,863,902 hectares (UNEP 2007).29

28. While in some countries, such asJordan and Lebanon, the numbero protected areas has grown and

28 UNEP (2008). GEO Data Portal. United Nations Environ-

ment Programme. http://geodata.grid.unep.ch/.29 Ibid.

Table 2

World Conservation Monitoring Centre world database on the protection of nationally designated

protected areas

Country Number of designated protected areas

Iraq 6

Syrian Arab Republic 17

Jordan 22

Lebanon 15

Yemen 6

Saudi Arabia 128

Kuwait 19

United Arab Emirates 15

Oman 6

Qatar 4

Bahrain 4


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management schemes have beenintroduced, local communitiesneed to be more closely involved indecision-making to ensure eective

administrative and nancialmanagement. In Saudi Arabia 16protected areas have been gazetted,adding 71,782 square kilometres tothe total area under protection. InBahrain, a breeding programme orthe highly endangered marsh rog,which disappeared as the countrysreshwater springs became degraded,has been established and a recoveryprogramme has been implemented or

the rare Arabian sand gazelle in the al-Areen wildlie park.

29. The most signicant achievement inecosystem restoration was the workto restore the aquatic ecosystemsdestroyed by drainage and damconstruction in the Ahwar marshlandsbetween the Tigris and Euphrates riversin Iraq (UNEP, 2003).30 The creation olarge artifcial wetlands in Iraq andthe Syrian Arab Republic, however,

has oset the loss o biodiversityon the Euphrates river by attractingmigratory and water birds importantto the West Asian region. At the sametime, successul in situ conservationo endemic cereal crops has beenundertaken in Jordan and the SyrianArab Republic (EOAR, 2010). InYemen, populations o the Arabianleopard have been restored throughex situ conservation and progress

has been made towards biodiversityconservation targets through researchprogrammes and establishment ogene banks. In Qatar, progress hasbeen made towards the restorationo the Arabian oryx, populations owhich were extinct in the wild. A smallounding herd was successully bred incaptivity at the Arabian Oryx BreedingCentre and animals rom this stock

30UNEP(2003).EnvironmentinIraq:UNEPProgress

Report. United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva.http://postconict.unep.ch/publications/Iraq_PR.pdf.

were reintroduced in three reserves,Shahanya, Ushaijrij and Almazhabyah.The Rhim gazelle, which had becomelocally extinct, was also reintroducedollowing successul captive breedingeorts. The reintroduced populationshave grown to number 650 Arabianoryx and 3,500 Rhim gazelles. Inaddition, some captive breeding eortsto reestablish the wild cow, and alsocertain gazelle species, have beenundertaken in Jordan, Oman, SaudiArabia and the Syrian Arab Republic.

30. West Asia relies on a wealth ocommunity-based traditionalknowledge and customary laws that areat the core o biodiversity conservation.There is general consensus among thecountries o the region to support aninternational regime on access andbeneft-sharing, to regulate the use ogenetic resources and to protect therights o the indigenous communitiesthat are preserving them. The

benefts o biodiversity as a resourcewhich underpins ecosystem servicesand the potential advantages rombioprospecting, which may result inpatents or sales o new drugs, togetherwith the inherent economic valueo biodiversity, are evidenced by theincome generated or stakeholders.For example, in the Syrian ArabRepublic, traditional ways o lie, suchas nomadic grazing and orest use,

are encouraged and already protected


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under local laws. National laws andby-laws by all parties are yet to bereviewed in line with the internationalregime on access and beneft-sharing,

which is to be adopted at the tenthmeeting o the Conerence o theParties to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010.The Conventions clearing-housemechanism has demonstratedthat international cooperation isundamental to global biodiversityconservation. Stakeholders in WestAsia, in particular Lebanon and SaudiArabia, have been implementing this

mechanism eectively to developurther knowledge on biodiversitytrends, technologies and successmodels o conservation programmes.

31. In conclusion, more substantive eortsare required in West Asia to meetthe global biodiversity objectives set

by the Strategic Plan and the newpost-2010 biodiversity targets underthe Convention on Biological Diversity.To bridge the gap between science

and policy and to assess the status othe biodiversity o the entire regionand the associated indicators andtrends, more research based on soundscience and more intensive monitoringare needed. Decision makers in theregion must make concerted eortsto endorse national laws governinghuman behaviour. To that end, regionaldialogue between Governments,stakeholders and the science

community must be encouraged.Last but not least, eorts to reconciledevelopment and conservation whilemaintaining an ecological balancein the surrounding natural worldrepresent the path that must beollowed i the uture o this planet is tobe saeguarded.


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United Nations Environment ProgrammeRegional Oce or West Asia (ROWA)Tel: 973 178 127 77 Ext. 752Fax: 973 178 251 10/1

E-mail: [email protected]: www.unep.org.bh

Division o Environmental Law and Conventions/United Nations Environment ProgrammeP.O Box 30552Nairobi, 00100, Kenya

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Biodiversity fact sheet WEST ASIA