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WE Magazine is entirely dedicated to cover worldwide environmental issues such as Global Warming, Water, Energy, Global Warming, Waste Management, Sustainable Development, Green Economy and Biodiversity. Through, articles and interviews to the most in fluent environment experts we aim to educate and promote an awareness and respect of the environment.
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MAGAZINE |
WORLD E N V I R O N M E N T
No07 /M
arch 2011w
ww
.worldenvironm
ent.tvW
ORLD ENVIRONMENT M
AGAZINE
07
International Yearof Forests
Celebrating Forestsfor People
2011
WORLD ENVIRONMENT MAGAZINE is available online at www.worldenvironment.tv
WORLD ENVIRONMENT MAGAZINEMAGAZINE |
WORLD E N V I R O N M E N T
Number 07 | March 2011
CHAIRMANAndrea Tucci [email protected]
EDITORIAL DIRECTORCathy Chami Tyan [email protected]
EDITORIAL PROJECT COORDINATORMarc Wiliam [email protected]
CONTRIBUTORSAbigail Alling, Fadi G. Comair,Piercarlo Crachi, Maria-AlejandraFaria, Hala Habib, RonyMecattaf, Gabriella Porilli,Mariejoe Raidy, Erika Roshdi,Amy Sim, Merlin D.Tuttle
CONCEPT & DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHYAbigail Alling, Cetamada, Orla Doherty, Angelo Grilli, Mimo Khair, Studio Crachi,Michel Zoghzoghi
EDITING:Hala Habib
SALES [email protected]@worldenvironment.tv
SUBSCRIPTIONS:[email protected] 1396 Beit Mery, Lebanon
PRINTINGRAIDY | www.raidy.com
PUBLISHED BYWorld Environment Group
COPYRIGHTThe articles become part of the magazine’s archive. Furtherpublishings on other issues mustbe authorized by the editor following the author’s consent.
ISSN17379229
Eco-Living >96
Eco-Tourism >118
Sustainable Development >84
WORLD ENVIRONMENT MAGAZINE’s policy is to use papers that are renewable, recyclable and from
sustainable sources. In addition, all waste is sent for recycling.
Biodiversity >10
Energy >78
Editorial > 4 For the Love of Our Forests
Biodiversity > 10 2011, International Year of Forests:
Celebrating Forests for People
> 20 Forest Genetic Resources: Bringing
Solutions to Sustainable Forest
Management
> 26 From Tequila to the “Tree of Life”
> 32 Born to Be in the Wild
> 46 The Race Against Time: Saving Coral
Global Warming > 54 The “Awakening the Dreamer, Changing
the Dream” Symposium
Water > 60 Integrated Water Resources Management
in the Mediterranean Basin (IWRM)
> 70 Water Resources in Lebanon
Energy > 78 The Energy Report
Sustainable Development > 84 Architect Youssef Tohme:
Out of Nature Comes the New Generation
of Eco-Friendly Designs
> 90 Ahmed Baghoum: Masdar the First
Eco-Friendly City in MENA
Eco-living > 96 China: Progress in Environmental
Information
> 104 The Museum of Libya: A Restoration Project
> 108 Online stakeholder engagement
Eco-Tourism> 112 Valnerina: Parco Nazionale Dei Monti
Sibillini
> 118 Madagascar: Preserving the Marine
Population
GlobalWarming
>54
Water >70
Hala Habib Was born and raised inNigeria. She studiedCommunication Media and Business Managementat BUC and has sinceworked in the field ofcommunication. She hasestablished and headed as editor-in-chief several
English-language magazines and contributesand edits magazines from different fields. She worked at the United Nations Children’sFund (UNICEF) from 2003 till 2010 asCommunication Officer and was in charge of a TV program for youth called SAWTNA.
Mimo KhairWas born in Lebanon. She graduated from TheAmerican University inBeirut and moved to NewYork at age 21, where shefirst discovered herpassion for art overall, andphotography in particular. She attended the Parsons
School of Design and later apprenticed withVietnamese photographer Noc Nol. Since 1996 Mimo's photography has spannedthe globe. Her photo exhibits mostly featureher favorite subjects: children, ancientmonuments, and landscapes from her travels.Since 1997, Mimo has led summer art campsfor children in Europe, the United States andthe Middle East. She founded the acclaimedBlue Star Youth Movement to foster buddingtalents in art and photography for teenagers.She currently lives in Shanghai with herhusband and young daughter and exhibits herwork internationally and locally in Shanghai.
Rony MecattafRony is an Executive Coachand Business Consultantwith a unique internationaland multi culturalbackground. He has had a wide range of clients, from globalcorporations to smallbusinesses to whom
he delivers one to one or group executivecoaching, seminars and workshops. His coaching approach benefits from an 18-year corporate experience as Sales and Marketing Manager, and as BusinessDevelopment Consultant, as well as from his training as a Coach (CoachU) and variousmodalities (NLP, Systemic Approach, Gestalt Therapy).Born and raised in Lebanon, he studied and lived in the U.S. and France for over thirty years. He recently moved back to Lebanon, where he is now based, but he travels extensively to France, the rest of Europe and within theMiddle East.Rony believes that his coaching style benefitstremendously from his background, bothprofessional and personal. He is able to understand the pressures thatlimit the personal growth and performance of today’s managers, and can be a greatcatalyst in their transformation towardsexcellence. His style is non-intrusive in that he will ensurehis client’s development pace corresponds to what is needed at that specific time. While coaching, Rony is fully in service of hisclient’s exploration of their full potential as a manager and as a human being.
Amy Sim Is Senior ProgrammeOfficer for Asia atARTICLE 19, a humanrights organizationprotecting and promotingthe rights to freedom ofexpression and freedomof information. Shecurrently manages the
Access to Environmental Information projectin China, and freedom of expressioncampaigns in the region. Prior to joining ARTICLE 19, she has worked atthe World Bank on community drivendevelopment programmes in Indonesia. In particular, she has designed and managed a pilot initiative using cultural resources tosupport poverty reduction and communityempowerment. She has also worked as ajournalist with the Singapore Press Holdings.
Mariejoe RaidyGrowing up in a regionknown for politicalupheaval and uncertainty,MarieJoe advocates for doing business inLebanon in a way that is environmentallyresponsible and ethicallydriven. As creative director
and as a shareholder in Raidy Printing Groups.a.l, she spearheaded an effort to adoptinnovative, eco-friendly printing techniques.When she succeeded, she had created the only printing company in the Arab worldrecognized by the renowned publishing house, Rotovision, UK. MarieJoe is not only focused onenvironmentally responsible businesses,but also establishing a norm of individual and corporate ethics. Working with theAmerican Lebanese Chamber of Commerce,she helped create the “Better Business Group”in Beirut, which encourages Lebaneseindividuals and corporations to adhere to a code of business ethics.In recognition of her demonstrated leadershipand trailblazing ways, MarieJoe was alsorecently asked to serve as Chair ofCommunication Committee in the LebaneseLeague of Women in Business, a Network Hubof the MENA Businesswomen’s Network.
Fadi G. ComairDirector of the General of Hydraulic and ElectricalResources of the Lebanese MinistryBorn in 1960 He graduatedfrom American universitiesof Texas and Harvard andFrench: Ecole Nationaledes Ponts et Chaussées
and UniversityClaude Bernard Lyon I with aPhD in energy. Mr. Comair is distinguished bywork experience unique in France, theresearch centers affiliated to the Ministry of Industry, working actively in varioustechnical committees responsible for draftingthe European Eurocodes, and was also co-editor of the French seismic rules between1992 and 2000. Returned to Lebanon in 1993,he was appointed first as CEO of the NationalOffice of Litani (ONL) and then as DirectorGeneral of Water Resources and Electricity. His many interests as the main negotiator on the Wazzani and Hasbani main tributaries of the Jordan and on transboundary rivers of Onronte and Nahr el-Kebir with Syria and its role in the formation of several delegationsfrom the Middle East hydrodiplomatie makehim the undisputed expert on water issues.
Piercarlo Crachi Was born in Italy,graduated in Architecturein 1991 from Rome andproceeded to obtain a PhDin Environmental Designfrom the University ofRome "La Sapienza" in1998. His professionalwork focuses on
architectural design, restoration, decorationand recovery of industrial design. Some of hismajor achievements included works on theArt gallery of the Capitol in Rome, theNapoleonic Museum in Rome, the TeatroTorlonia and the Museum Manzù as well asworks on garden theme in Ardea, AlcamoWine Museum and the Museum of Libya inTripoli. He has published several essays andarticles on architecture and design includingPisanti Castrucci and architects in Naples;Enzo Frateili: Architecture, Technology,Design; Three Projects Made in Rome; andThe New Museum of Libya in the People’sPalace of Tripoli. He has held several honoraryand distinguished posts amongst which arethe Register of Journalists since 1997,professor at the Faculty of Architecture at theUniversity of Rome "La Sapienza" from 1998 to 2004, and professor at the Faculty ofCommunication, at the same university from 2005 to 2007.
Abigail Kingsley Alling Co-founder and Presidentof Biosphere Foundation Abigail Alling co-foundedthe non-profitorganization, BiosphereFoundation (BF), in 1991 and continuestoday as its President. Biosphere Foundation
primary goal is to inspire intelligentstewardship of our biosphere. At present, BF is based onboard its researchvessel in Asia where its team has initiated coral reef, sea turtle and marine mammalconservation programs. Its projects over the past two decades haveincluded: a planetary coral reef expedition, a coral reef satellite mission, an ecologicalwastewater treatment system calledWastewater Gardens, and Mars On Earth – anR&D project to simulate a sustainable habitatfor a manned mission to Mars. Abigail has sailed the world’s oceans including a voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula to study humpback whale population genetics(in collaboration with the National Cancer Research Institute). At Biosphere 2 (1986-1994), Abigail created a million gallon coral reef and marshecosystem, served as Scientific Chief for morethan 60 research projects and was one of 8 “biospherians” to live inside the closed systemfor two years.She is a graduate of Middlebury College (Biology) and she also received an M.S. degreein Environmental Studies from Yale University.
CONTRIBUTORS
There is a popular saying that goes “Forests are the lungs of the
earth”. It’s a beautiful saying and very romantic but when one
thinks of the status of forests around the globe then it becomes
less romantic, actually it starts ringing alarm bells.
The warning has found kind ears with the United
Nations who has proclaimed 2011 as the International
Year of Forests (Forests 2011). World Environment
Magazine, an ardent enthusiast for the global
environment well-being is joining the United Nations
in its campaign to raise awareness on the important
role that forests play as the source of food security
and livelihoods for more than 1.6 billion people.
Here are some facts to consider when thinking
forests. Jungles and forests cover 31% of total land
area. Forests are home to 300 million people around
the world and are home to 80% of our terrestrial
biodiversity. Primary forests account for 36% of forest
area. Trade in forest products was estimated at $327
billion in 2004. Thirty percent of forests are used for production of
wood and non-wood products. These figures send shockwaves when
we realize that drastic measures should be taken both by
governments and individuals to stop and reverse the destruction cycle
to the earth’s lungs and thus to the basic existence of man.
Protect your forests, and join us in celebrating earth’s wonders with
the world’s forests, jungles, woods and mangroves. I protect forests,
therefore I exist!
Be the change, Act green, plant a tree, plant more, use less, protect,
and help slow down global warming. Organize environmental
initiatives, and adopt the green attitude in your home; in your school in
your office: print when necessary, do not use plastic bags, save energy
and water, recycle, walk to work... the possibilities are infinite.
In line with its environmental policy World Environment magazine uses
only recyclable paper made from wood grown in sustainable forests.
Our pledge is to plant a tree with each new membership to help
reforestation in Lebanon.
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
For the Love of Our Forests
ENERGY 2050Jim Skea, Paul Ekins and Mark Winskel
The United Kingdom is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least
80% by 2050, a target that will only be achieved by transforming the way that energy is
supplied and used. At the same time there are anxieties about the security of energy
provision in terms of European dependency on natural gas and the reliability of electricity
supply. This book explores in detail those factors, which could help or hinder the
attainment of the UK's climate change targets, and how these factors interact with the
parallel objective of maintaining a robust and secure energy system. The book is the result of a major
national energy research effort by the UK Energy Research Centre, which includes some of the UK's leading energy
experts. The results and recommendations are essential reading for policymakers, professionals, researchers, and
anyone concerned with achieving large-scale reductions in carbon emissions, both from the UK and internationally.
WE BOOK
6
Claire Freeman
& Paul Tranter
In our fast-changing urban world,
the impacts of social and
environmental change on
children are often overlooked.
Children and their Urban
Environment examines these
impacts in detail, looking at the
key activities, spaces and
experiences children have and
how these can be managed to
ensure that children benefit from change.
The book seeks to embrace childhood as a time
of freedom, social engagement and
environmental adventure and to encourage
creation of environments that better meet the
needs of children.
THE BOOK REVIEW
BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM INSECURITYAhmed Djoghlaf and Felix Dodds
This book provides
an authoritative
and comprehensive
assessment of the
threats presented
to human security
and well-being by
the loss of
ecosystems and
biodiversity –
recently confirmed
as one of the
critical 'planetary
boundaries' that has already been exceeded.
Contributors examine the current trends and
state of biodiversity globally, the drivers of
biodiversity loss including climate change
and economic and population pressures, and
the mechanisms and policies needed for
conserving and restoring biodiversity in the
future. This volume is an invaluable resource
for conservationists, students and those in
the private and public sectors concerned to
redress the damage being done to the
natural world.
CHILDREN AND THEIRURBAN ENVIRONMENT
7
INTEGRATEDSUSTAINABLE DESIGNOF BUILDINGS
Paul Appleby
Integrated Sustainable Design of Buildings aims
to provide a guide to members of design and
master-planning teams on how to deliver sustainable
development and buildings cost effectively, meeting current and
emerging UK and international statutory and planning requirements.
Using a series of case histories and examples from the author's 10 years
of providing sustainability advisory services the book sets out a clear and
understandable strategy that deals with all aspects of sustainable design
and construction and the implications for delivery, costs, sale-ability and
long term operation.
The extensive scope includes all aspects of environmental, social and
economic sustainability, including strategies to reduce carbon
emissions and the impact of climate change.
REVIEW
GLOBALURBAN ANALYSIS
Peter J. Taylor, Pengfei Ni,
Ben Derudder,
Michael Hoyler, Jin Huang
and Frank Witlox
Global Urban Analysis provides
a unique insight into the
contemporary world economy
through a focus on cities. It is
based upon a large-scale
customized data collection on
how leading businesses use
cities across the world: as
headquarter locations, for
finance, for professional and
creative services, for media.
These data - involving up to 2000
firms and over 500 cities -
provide evidence for both how
the leading cities, sometimes
called global cities, are coming
to dominate the world economy,
and how hundreds of other cities
are faring in this brave new
urban world.
Written in an easy to understand
style, this book is a must read
for anybody interested in their
own city in the world and how it
relates to other cities.
HANDBOOK OF STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
Barry Sadler, Ralf Aschemann,
Jiri Dusik, Thomas Fischer,
Maria Partidario and Bob Verheem
This authoritative handbook surveys the full breadth and depth of SEA,
bringing together a range of international perspectives and insights on
the theoretical, methodological and institutional dimensions and
practical issues of the field. It then subjects this conventional wisdom to
a critical reappraisal, looks at the vast lessons of experience and offers
new ideas and interpretations as to where the field is going.
All books can be bought online at www.worldenvironment.tv
THE BOOK REVIEW
5Which Kenyan environmentalist won the 2004
Nobel Peace Prize?
8The US is the
world's biggest
emitter of
greenhouse gases.
Which country is
the second biggest
emitter?
a. India
b. China
c. Russia
d. Nigeria
7According to the
most recent
estimates, how
many billion metric
of carbon dioxide does
mankind pump into the
atmosphere annually?
a. 1.1 billion
b. 2.2 billion
c. 4.4 billion
d. 6.6 billion
THE WE QUIZ ANSWERS
1: 16 million
2:Walden, or Life in the Woods
3: The Limits to Growth
4: Only One Earth
5: Wangari Maathai
6: 25 percent
7: China
8: 6.6 billion
QUIZ1According to the United Nations
Environment program, how many
hectares of tropical rainforest are
being lost each year to the logging industry?
a. 500,000
b. 3 million
c. 10 million
d. 16 million
2Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
is considered one of the pioneers of
the environmental movement.
What is his most famous book called?
a. Walden, or Life in the Woods
b. Arden, or Walks through the Forest
c. Verden, or Diary of a Meadow
d. Smarden, or Musings on a Pond
3In 1972 a group of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology produced a hugely influential report warning of envi-
ronmental catastrophe unless mankind did more to protect the
earth's resources. What was the report called?
a. The Ends of the Earth
b. The Limits to Growth
c. The Need to Change
d. The Exhausted World
a. Ali Kaka
b. Isaac Maina
c. Wangari Maathai
d. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka
4The 1972 United Nations
Conference on The Human
Environment, held in
Stockholm, is generally
regarded as the first concerted
international attempt to address
environmental issues. What was
the conference's motto?
a. Only One Earth
b. Securing Our Future
c. The World As One
d. Protecting Our Legacy6At current rates of extinction, it is estimated
that what percentage of the world's mammals
will disappear over the next 30 years?
a. 5 percent
b. 10 percent
c. 25 percent
d. 40 percent
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
INTERNATIONALYEAR OF FORESTS CELEBRATING FORESTSFOR PEOPLE2011
13
Biodiversity
The United NationsGeneral Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable manage-ment, conservation and sustainable development ofall types of forests.
Forests are a key part toward the
shift toward a "greener" eco-
nomy said a cadre of U.N. offi-
cials as the body officially launched
its International Year of Forests to
highlight the global importance of
forests.
"Every one of us, all seven billion
people on earth, has our physical,
economic and spiritual health tied
to the health of our forest ecosys-
tems," said Jan McAlpine, the Di-
rector of the U.N. Forum on Forests,
in a statement.
"Forests are also cornerstones of our
economies, whose real value has all
too often been invisible in national ac-
counts of profit and loss," added
Achim Steiner, Executive Director of
the U.N. Environment Program.
To mark the beginning of the Interna-
tional Year of Forests, the U.N. Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
released The State of the World's Fo-
rests (SOFO), a report that comes out
every two years and assesses the sta-
tus of global forest resources.
SOFO 2011 includes information on
trends in forest management, pro-
duction of forest products, and raw �
14
forest cover data. The report notes
that the forestry sector is working to
reduce its impact on the environment
through better forest management
and improved energy efficiency in
production of forest products.
The International Year of Forests
comes at what could represent a
transition point for forests. Defores-
tation rates are slowing and policy-
makers are showing unprecedented
interest in protecting forests as a cli-
mate change mitigation strategy
known as REDD (Reducing Emis-
sions from Deforestation and Degra-
dation). Some governments have en-
acted laws restricting trade in
illegally logged timber, while retailers
are showing new concern on the ori-
gin of forest products.
But risks to forests remain. Rising
demand for food, fiber, and fuel will
put pressure on remaining forest
lands while climate change could
increase the vulnerability of some
forests to drought, fire, and disease
outbreaks. Poor design, insufficient
governance, and entrenched inte-
rests in the forestry sector intent on
maintaining the status quo could
undermine the REDD mechanism,
hurting a key potential source of
funding for forest protection and
management.
Forest cover in tropical countries, excluding ‘planted forests’(million hectares)
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1990 2000 2005 2010
Others
Peru
Brazil
Mexico
Indonesia
DR Congo
�
�
17
Biodiversity
Change in annual deforestation rate 2000-2005 vs 2005-2010
Increaseddeforestation
Decreaseddeforestation
Indonesia
Peru
Madagascar
Mali
Guatemala
Bolivia
Malaysia
Solomon Islands
Thailand
Nicaragua
Cameroon
Senegal
Brazil
Cambodia
Laos
Mexico
mongabay.com-120% -90% -60% -30% 0% 30% 60% 90% 120%
7%
-14%
-17%
-21%
-21%
-22%
-24%
-37%
8%
9%
13%
27%
32%
36%
94%
107%
GLOBAL FORESTS According to FAO data released last
year, forests presently cover around
31 percent of global land area, or
nearly four billion hectares.
FAO figures show deforestation
across 121 tropical countries avera-
ged 9.34 million hectares per year
between 2000 and 2010, down from
11.33 million hectares per year in the
1990s. The decline has accelerated
since 2005 due Brazil's dramatic re-
duction of deforestation in the Brazi-
lian Amazon, which peaked at 27,772
square kilometers in 2004 but is ex-
pected to come in at less than 8,000
for 2010. Overall Brazil's reduction in
deforestation since 2005—which fell
from 3.2 million hectares per year
from 2000-2005 to 2.5 million hec-
tares in 2005-2010—more than offset
increases in forest clearing in other
DI D YOU KNOW?- Forests are home to 80% of ourterrestrial biodiversity.
- Forests cover 31% of totalland area.
- Trade in forest products wasestimated at $327 billion in 2004.
- 30% of forests are used forproduction of wood andnon-wood products.
- Forests are home to 300 millionpeople around the world.
- Primary forests account for 36%of forest area.
- The livelihoods of over 1.6 billionpeople depend on forests.
�
major forest countries including In-
donesia (107 percent increase), Peru
(94 percent), and Madagascar (36
percent) during the period.
FAO estimates global deforestation
fell from 16 million hectares per year
in the 1990s to 13 million hectares
per year in the past decade. Factoring
in planted forests, the rate of forest
loss fell from 8.3 million hectares per
year to 5.2 million hectares, an area
about the size of Costa Rica.
Primary forest, the most carbon-
dense and biologically diverse form of
forest, declined by more than 40 mil-
lion hectares over the past decade, pri-
marily a result of first-time logging.
FORESTSARE ALSOCORNERSTONES OFOUR ECONOMIES,WHOSE REAL VALUEHAS ALL TOO OFTENBEEN INVISIBLEINNATIONAL ACCOUNTSOFPROFITAND LOSS
18
The UN RESOLUTION adopted by the General Assembly International Year of Forests, 2011
Reaffirming its commitment to the Non-legally BindingAuthoritative Statement of Principles for a GlobalConsensus on the Management, Conservation and Sus-tainable Development of All Types of Forests and Agenda21, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Envi-ronment and Development, the United Nations Millen-nium Declaration, adopted at the Millennium Summit in2000, the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable De-velopment and the Plan of Implementation of the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development, adopted at theWorld Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Jo-hannesburg, South Africa, in 2002,Recalling the Convention on Biological Diversity, theUnited Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange, the United Nations Convention to CombatDesertification in Those Countries Experiencing Se-rious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly inAfrica, and other relevant conventions dealing with thecomplexity of forest issues,Recognizing that forests and sustainable forest manage-ment can contribute significantly to sustainable develop-ment, poverty eradication and the achievement of inter-nationally agreed development goals, including theMillennium Development Goals,Recalling Economic and Social Council decision2006/230 of 24 July 2006,Emphasizing the need for sustainable management of alltypes of forests, including fragile forest ecosystems,Convinced that concerted efforts should focus on rai-sing awareness at all levels to strengthen the sustainable
management, conservation and sustainable develop-ment of all types of forests for the benefit of current andfuture generations,1. Decides to declare 2011 the International Year of
Forests;2. Requests the secretariat of the United Nations Forum
on Forests of the Department of Economic and SocialAffairs of the Secretariat, to serve as the focal point forthe implementation of the Year, in collaboration withGovernments, the Collaborative Partnership on Forestsand international, regional and sub-regional organiza-tions and processes as well as relevant major groups;
3. Invites, in particular, the Food and Agriculture Organi-zation of the United Nations, as the Chair of the Colla-borative Partnership on Forests, within its mandate, tosupport the implementation of the Year;
4. Calls upon Governments, relevant regional and in-ternational organizations, and major groups to sup-port activities related to the Year, inter alia, throughvoluntary contributions, and to link their relevant ac-tivities to the Year;
5. Encourages voluntary partnerships among MemberStates, international organizations and major groups tofacilitate and promote activities related to the Year atthe local and national levels, including by creating na-tional committees or designating focal points in theirrespective countries;
6.Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Gene-ral Assembly at its sixty-fourth session on the state ofpreparations for the Year.
FOREST GENETIC RESOURCESBRINGING SOLUTIONS TO SUSTAINABLEFOREST MANAGEMENT
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
Forests are complex ecosystems that cover 30 percent of the global landarea, providing habitat for countless terrestrial species. Forests are vital forlivelihoods as well as economic and social development, providing food,raw materials for shelter, energy and manufacturing. They are also critical for environmental protection and conservation of natural resources. Forests contain more carbon than the atmosphere. With climate change, forests, with their dual roles as both producers and absorbers of carbon, take on a new importance.�
Genetic diversity provides the
fundamental basis for evolu-
tion of forest tree species.
This diversity has enabled forests and
trees to adapt to changing and ad-
verse conditions for thousands of
years, and has resulted in a unique
and irreplaceable portfolio of forest
tree genetic resources.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of fo-
rest genetic diversity remains unk-
nown, especially in tropical forests.
Estimates of the number of tree spe-
cies vary from 80,000 to 100,000, yet
fewer than 500 have been studied in
any depth for their present and future
potential. Until recently, studies of fo-
rest tree genetic resources have
concentrated on domesticating those
few deemed most applicable for wood,
fibre and fuel production from planta-
tions and agroforestry systems.
As a result of pressures on forest lands
and the effects of unsustainable use of
forest resources, the great potential of
forest genetic resources is at risk of
being lost forever, before it can be iden-
tified, let alone utilized. Forest loss and
degradation remain major global
concerns despite the enormous efforts
to achieve sustainable forest manage-
ment. There is also increasing aware-
ness of the critical values that forest
genetic diversity provide per se and as
means to confront global challenges,
such as climate change.
SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT: FOCUS ON FOREST GENETIC RESOURCESUnderstanding and managing forest
tree genetic diversity is important in all
types of forests. Monitoring the diver-
sity of tree populations in primary fo-
rests can improve our knowledge on
how ecosystem services and goods are
being delivered. Intensive genetic se-
lection and breeding takes place in
plantation and agroforestry systems.
The sustainable management of fo-
rests requires a better understanding
of the specific features of forest trees
and their genetic diversity. Forest tree
species are generally long lived and ex-
tremely diverse. One species can natu-
rally occur in a broad range of ecologi-
cal conditions.
22
In addition, forest species have evol-
ved under several periods of climatic
change; their genetic variability pro-
vides the capability to adapt to emer-
ging climatic conditions.
Trees have different mechanisms for
natural seed dispersal allowing trees
to migrate over large distances. Ho-
wever, even this important characte-
ristic might not be sufficient for many
species to survive today’s rapidly shif-
ting climatic zones.
Forest trees are generally managed
with long rotation periods (the time
between regeneration and harvesting),
from 5-10 years and up to 150-200
years. With climate change it can no
longer be assumed that today’s gro-
wing conditions will be the same in 100
years and adaptability to change over
lengthy rotation periods will increasin-
gly be an important management
consideration. Forest genetic re-
sources have provided the potential for
adaptation in the past, and will conti-
nue to provide this vital role as we ad-
dress the challenge of mitigating or
adapting to further climate changes. In
developing sustainable forest mana-
gement, forestry practices that main-
tain genetic diversity over the longer
term will be required.
Maintaining evolutionary processes
and genetic diversity within forest
tree populations requires a “dynamic
gene conservation” approach. Such
an approach is based on managing
tree populations within the environ-
ment to which they are adapted (in
situ), or artificial, but dynamically
using tree populations removed from
their natural habitats (ex situ). In re-
cent decades, countries have establi-
shed conservation areas, such as fo-
rest gene conservation areas.
However, the selection, management
and monitoring of such areas would
in general benefit from better plan-
ned and coordinated action to effec-
tively conserve the genetic diversity
of species that are often found
across several countries and re-
gions. Exchange of information, me-
thodologies and experiences, and
coordination of efforts will be crucial
in the future. The sustainable use of
forest genetic resources, including �
25
THREATS TO FOREST GENETIC DIVERSITYDeforestation: Each year, 13 million hectares of forests arebeing lost, mainly through conver-sion to other land uses. While thisloss is somewhat offset by 5.7 mil-lion ha of new forest restorationand afforestation annually, theearth is still losing some 200 km2
of forests each day. It is impossibleto accurately estimate genetic lossthat is resulting from deforestationand forest degradation given ourgeneral lack of knowledge of forest genetic resources. However,there is little doubt that deforesta-tion and forest degradation resultin many cases in genetic erosion.
Climate Change: Changingweather patterns are altering thegrowing conditions for forest treesas well as the population dynamicof the pests and diseases that attackthem. In Canada, cold winters usedto prevent or reduce the spread ofa bore beetle plague. The insect isnow, with warmer winters, expan-ding into new areas and attackingpine trees that have no resistance,and therefore threatening the gene-tic diversity of forest populations.Improving knowledge of forest genetic diversity, including on pestresistance, will be increasingly important in forest management, as this example illustrates.
the appropriate selection of forest
seed and germplasm management
are fundamental in forest planta-
tions. The right match of species and
seed source according to site condi-
tions, combined with proper silvicul-
ture can improve productivity by well
over 20%. Forest genetic resources
provide important traits for increa-
sing productivity and quality of out-
puts, and enables adaptation to bio-
tic and abiotic stressors.
THE COMMISSION ON GENETICFOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE:INTEGRATING THE POTENTIALOF FOREST RESOURCES The field of forest genetic resources is
undergoing significant changes. Tradi-
tionally concerned with technical is-
sues of genetic conservation, tree im-
provement and seed supply, the scope
of genetic management is expanding
to include ecosystem services. Scien-
tific advances in biotechnology and
legal developments concerning ex-
change of genetic resources bring new
possibilities and challenges,which re-
quire development of an enabling po-
licy environment.
The Commission on Genetic Re-
sources for Food and Agriculture is
well-positioned to link forest genetic
resources to relevant global policy is-
sues, and integrate this area into
cross-sectorial strategies. Under its
Multi-Year Programme of Work
(MYPOW) the Commission is wor-
king with its member nations to
survey what is currently known
about the world’s forest genetic re-
sources, which will enable the pre-
paration of the first State of the
World’s Forest Genetic Resources.
The State of the World’s Forest Ge-
netic Resources will be based on in-
formation from country reports and
results of thematic studies on im-
portant issues related to the
conservation and management of
forest genetic resources.
The preparation of The State of the
World’s Forest Genetic Resources
will be undertaken in synergy with
other activities of the FAO Forestry
Programme, in particular the Global
Forest Resource Assessment (FRA).
The Committee on Forestry (COFO)
and the FAO Regional Forestry Com-
missions will be involved in the pro-
cess. FAO will seek cooperation and
synergy with relevant regional and
global programmes and instru-
ments, such as the Convention on
Biological Diversity.
The State of the World’s Forest Gene-
tic Resources will provide the basis
for developing a framework for action
at national, regional, eco-regional
and global levels.
�
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
By Dr. Merlin D. TUTTLE, Honorary Ambassadorfor the Year of the Bat campaign
27
From tequila to the 'tree of life',
BATS ARE NATURE'SINVALUABLE ALLIES
Were you aware thatbats are key pollinatorsin many parts of theworld? Pollination is avital ecosystem servicewithout which manyof our key industriessuch as agriculture andp h a r m a c e u t i c a l swould collapse orincur heavy costs forartificial substitution.TEEB has found that insome estimates, over75% of the world’scrop plants, as well asmany plants that aresource species forpharmaceuticals, relyon pollination by ani-mal vectors.
Biodiversity
�
28
Furthermore, for 87 out of 115
leading global crops (represen-
ting up to 35% of the global food
supply), fruit or seed numbers or
quality were increased through ani-
mal pollination. Bats also provide a
wide range of ecosystem services
which benefit mankind from insect
deterrent to bat guano fertilizer.
BAT POLLINATORS: TEQUILA AND THE TREE OF LIFEMore than 1,200 species of bats com-
prise nearly a quarter of all mam-
mals, and their ecological services
are essential to human economies
and the health of whole ecosystems
worldwide. Without bats, costly crop
pests would increase, forcing greater
reliance on dangerous pesticides. We
could also lose some of our favorite
foods and beverages and suffer the
consequences of greatly diminished
biodiversity.
Many of our most important foods
come from bat-dependent plants.
These include bananas, plantain,
breadfruit, peaches, mangos, dates,
figs, cashews and many more. In fact,
in an average tropical food market,
approximately 70 percent of the fruit
sold comes from trees or shrubs that
rely heavily on bats in the wild. Some
such as the famous durian still rely
on bat pollinators even in commercial
orchards. This king of Asian fruits
sells for a billion dollars annually, but
could be lost without healthy popula-
tions of its bat pollinators.
In East Africa nectar feeding bats are
essential to fruit production of the
Baobab tree, sometimes referred to
as the African Tree of Life due to the
exceptional variety of wildlife that de-
pend on it for food and shelter. Re-
cently, it has additionally become
known as the Vitamin Tree. Baobab
fruits contain six times as much vita-
min C as oranges; twice as much cal-
cium as milk, are rich in other vita-
mins and antioxidants and may soon
become a billion dollar a year crop.
In deserts, from the southwestern
United States to southern Peru, more
than 100 species of cactus and agave
plants rely on bats for pollination.
Giant, columnar cactus plants, such
as the famous saguaro and organ
pipe, are heavily relied on for food and
shelter by a wide variety of birds and
mammals, and agaves are extremely
useful in erosion control, as orna-
mentals and as the source of all te-
quila liquor. The world's thirsty Mar-
garita drinkers can definitely raise a
glass in praise of bats.
BATS: NATURE'S NATURAL PESTICIDEBats also provide an essential ecosys-
tem service known as "biological
control." Natural pests and diseases
are usually regulated by a wide range
of predators and parasites. TEEB has
found that agricultural pests cause si-
gnificant economic losses worldwide.
Globally, more than 40% of food pro-
duction is being lost to insect pests,
plant pathogens, and weeds, despite
the application of more than three bil-
lion kilograms of pesticides to crops,
plus other means of control. Natural
control of pests is to date one of the
most effective means of dealing with
these threats. Bats are essential pre-
dators which keep many damaging in-
sects from destroying crops.
The colony of 20 million free-tailed
bats that lives in Bracken Cave near
San Antonio, Texas, for example,
consume 200 tons of insects nightly,
predominantly crop pests such as
corn earworm and armyworm
moths. Just one of these bats can
catch enough moths in one night's
feeding to prevent 50,000 or more
eggs from being laid, resulting in
NATURAL CONTROLOF PESTSIS TO DATE ONE OF THE MOSTEFFECTIVE MEANSOF DEALING WITHTHESE THREATS
IN AN AVERAGETROPICAL FOODMARKET, APPROXIMATELY 70 PERCENT OF THEFRUIT SOLD COMESFROM TREES ORSHRUBS THAT RELYHEAVILY ON BATS INTHE WILD
Biodiversity
29
local cotton growers saving close to a
million dollars annually in reduced
need for pesticides.
A single mouse-eared bat (wides-
pread in Europe and North America)
can capture 1,000 or more mosquito-
sized insects in just one hour. A co-
lony of 150 big brown bats, a number
that could live in a backyard bat
house, can capture enough cucum-
ber beetles in a summer to prevent
them from laying 33 million eggs that
would otherwise hatch into corn root-
worms, a billion-dollar-a -year pest
in the United States.
In many locations, bats can be easily
attracted to bat houses to help pro-
tect gardens and organic farms.
Outstanding success has been re-
ported from Oregon to Georgia in
the United States, probably because
many of our worst insect pests lis-
ten for bat echolocation signals and
flee areas where bats are heard. A
pecan grower in Georgia reports ha-
ving become entirely organic since
he attracted thousands of bats to
extra large bat houses in his or-
chard. So the next time you think or-
ganic, think "bats."
BAT FERTILIZERBats are also the primary energy pro-
ducers for many cave ecosystems.
Guano deposits beneath their roosts
provide energy that sustains thou-
sands of unique life forms, from bac-
teria and fungi to arthropods and
small vertebrates. These organisms
are often endemic to a single cave or
cave system, but provide a potential
treasure trove of biodiversity needed
for solving human problems, from
production of new antibiotics and ga-
sohol to improved detergents and
waste detoxification.
Additionally, extraction of bat guano
for fertilizer provides an invaluable re-
newable resource for whole commu-
nities in developing countries from
Asia and Africa to Latin America. For
example, due to this eco-service of
bats, Thailand's Khao Chong Pran
Cave has become a major source of
income for the local community, as
well as a unique tourist attraction. �
A PECAN GROWERIN GEORGIA REPORTSHAVING BECOME ENTIRELY ORGANICSINCE HE ATTRACTED THOUSANDS OF BATS TO EXTRALARGE BAT HOUSES IN HIS ORCHARD
30
Careful protection and harvest mana-
gement have allowed annual Guano
sales to increase from $10,000 to
$135,000. Bat Guano is big business.
FROM TERROR TO TOURIST ATTRACTIONAs people learn to appreciate bats,
these fascinating animals are paving
the way for popular tourist attrac-
tions. When 1.5 million free-tailed
bats began moving into crevices be-
neath the Congress Avenue Bridge
in downtown Austin, Texas, health
officials warned that they were rabid
and dangerous, and local people
wanted the bats eradicated. Howe-
ver, through the educational efforts
of Bat Conservation International,
fears were calmed, and in more than
30 years, not a single person has
been harmed. The bats consume
roughly 15 tons of insects nightly and
attract 12 million tourist dollars
each summer, clearly demonstra-
ting the value of bats to our environ-
ment and economies.
YEAR OF THE BAT 2011-2012Unfortunately, many people in other lo-
cations around the world still misun-
derstand, fear and persecute bats at
great harm to themselves. Too many
have heard only of vampires and di-
sease, both of which have been greatly
exaggerated by sensational media sto-
ries. Needlessly fearful humans, in
Latin America, have mistakenly des-
troyed thousands, even millions of
highly beneficial bats at a time by sea-
ling, burning or poisoning roosts, espe-
cially in caves, and many more bats
have been lost through simple neglect
of their conservation needs. Ironically,
even the common vampire bat of Latin
America has proven useful. A new drug,
Desmoteplase developed from re-
search on vampire saliva, appears to
greatly improve treatment of stroke vic-
tims, a potentially enormous contribu-
tion to human wellbeing. Who would
have thought that a bat - and a vampire,
at that - could help save countless lives?
Year of the Bat (2011-2012) celebra-
tions will highlight bat values and
�
THE CAMPAIGNYear of the Bat 2011 - 2012 is a global campaign to promote conser-vation, research and education aboutthe world's only flying mammals. Yearof the Bat is supported by the UnitedNations Environment Programme, theConvention on the Conservation ofMigratory Species and EUROBATS,as well as numerous partner organizations around the world.Additional information for this articlewas provided by The Economics ofEcosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB).
needs, providing unique introductions
to these incredibly fascinating animals
that unfortunately rank among our
planet's least understood and most ra-
pidly declining and endangered ani-
mals. But as more people learn about
and account for the ecosystem ser-
vices provided by bats, greater conser-
vation efforts will be made to ensure
the survival of these fascinating and
essential creatures.
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
Tiger streching in the morning sunlight - Bandhavgard National Park, India
BORNTO BE IN
THE WILDBy MarieJoe RAIDY
Mother and cub lions - Masai Mara, Kenya
Male and female lions - Masai Mara, Kenya
Mother and cub tigers -Bandhavgard National Park, India
Cheetah - Masai Mara, Kenya
There were originally nine tiger subspecies, three of which are nowextinct: The Bali tiger met its end in the 1940's, the Caspian in the1970's and the Javan in the 1980's. The Indochinese, the Sumatran,the Bengal, the Siberian, the Malayan Tiger and the South China tigerstill survive, yet it is estimated that today, there are only 2,500 tigersin the wild, and less than 10,000 kept in captivity in American zoos.The biggest tragedy is that although this specie is highly endangered,it has become the focus of a lucrative tiger-part trade to China. Eachtiger fetches up to 80,000 US dollars and is sold in parts as remedieswith aphrodisiac effects. This sad situation is best reflected throughimages, a more powerful technique than words. Each shot captures amoment that carries a story behind it. �
Michel Zoghzoghi, a Lebanese businessman
attempts to do just that. Ever since he
discovered a strong passion for photography
six years ago, Zoghzoghi has developed through his lens
a long-term love for issues that only a unique photo can
replace a thousand words and portray its story in the
most effective way.
Today, he focuses on photography of the wild, taking a
plane at every occasion, to go discover the beauty that
nature offers. His main focus is predators, which comes
from his passion for capturing movement and strength.
Zoghzoghi’s near future plan is to publish a book with
photos of predators especially endangered species
which he has shot over the past six years such as tigers,
Elephants chasinglions from underthe shades oftrees - MasaiMara, Kenya
polar bears, sharks, lions and cheetahs.
Unlike humans who strike a pose in front of a camera,
predators don’t react to the presence of a camera thus
giving each shot a totally natural feel. When not
photographing, Zoghzoghi manages the family medical
equipment and supply business. He is also on the board
of other family companies involved in Fast Moving
Consumer Goods and telecommunication equipment.
With such a busy schedule, where does he find time to
practice this strong passion for photography of the wild?
MarieJoe Raidy: You have to give up on something to be
able to practice such a passion, and obviously this
something was not professional life as you are strongly �
Polar bears - Hudson Bay,Northern Canada
Male polar bear, Two males play fighting
Mother and two older cubs
Mother with young cub
involved in three companies, one of which
you manage. So what did you give up on?
Michel Zoghzoghi: Social life.
You have such a rich portfolio, why didn’t you
exhibit any of it yet?
I simply don’t have time. But I am planning to
start next year.
Whenever a photo of yours is admired,
you don’t just stop at saying that it is
a beautiful shot, but you always explain
the story behind it.
A capture analyzed embellishes the story.
I always remember how I take my pictures,
and each moment is uniquely embedded
in my memory.
Do you think that through photography,
you can contribute in helping environmental
problems in a way?
Yes I think so. Because when you see these
images, you simply cannot be indifferent.
When people see the picture of a baby lion
playing with his mother or that of a polar
bear cub cuddling up to his mother
they will stop looking at these creatures
as horrible bloodthirsty killers,
and realize that they need our protection.
If we don’t do anything, these endangered
animals will be gone in ten years.
Already tigers are gone, how can we help
2,500 tigers sustain their existence?
Should we care?
Yes we should care. This is their planet
as much as it is ours.
Also from a scientific point of view, we can
learn a lot from these species, from their
strength, their abilities, their longevity.
Tigers are majestic.
Instead of killing them, we should think
of protecting them to avoid their extinction.
And having most of them in captivity is even
worse than killing them.
Why?
They need their instincts, they need to move
and be predators. Being in a cage and having
a piece of meat every day is
like dying. It no longer is the same animal.
�
�
Great White Sharks breaching the surface - False Bay, South Africa
Wildebeest crossing the river - Masai Mara, Kenya
Warthog injured by aMasai spear - Masai
Mara, Kenya
Large male hippos fighting - Masai Mara, Kenya
FACTS- Cheetahs are endangered due to decline in prey, loss of habitat,and poaching.
- Lions are hunted and killed every day for their precious fur,and mane.
- Polar Bears are protected today, but are becoming endangereddue to global warming.
- Humans kill over 25 million sharks a year for their fins, manyothers get stuck in Tuna fishing nets.
- Some human plans such as the Tanzania Serengeti park highwaywill disrupt the annual migration path of 1.5 million wild beastsand 300,000 zebras.
Cape fur seals on Seal Island -False Bay, South Africa
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
THE RACE AGAINST TIME SAVING CORAL
By Abigail ALLING
Coral reefs are disappearing at twice the speed of rainforests!This dangerous fact is mainly due to human activity. The ‘Coral Triangle’ that stretches from Indonesia to the Solomon Islands is an example of such perilous threatafter having lost about 40% of its reefs and mangroves. If immediate and drastic measures are not taken in the very near future, most of the world’s coral reefs will disappear by the year 2050 or a total extinction by the end of the century. �
mated two-thirds of all coral reefs are
at risk today. If immediate action is not
taken, coral reefs could disappear
from Earth within this century.
Coral reefs are the “rainforest of the
seas,” the most biodiverse marine
ecosystem and the greatest expres-
sion of ocean life. Although coral reefs
occupy 0.1% of the ocean’s surface,
they provide habitat to 25% of life in the
ocean and 10% of the food for the
world’s population. About a sixth of the
planet’s coastlines depend on coral
reefs for protection from storms and
waves. The above attributes of reefs,
including their aesthetic beauty, have
been estimated to have a total econo-
mic value of US$ 375 billion per year
across more than half the world’s
countries, both developing and develo-
ped (World Resources Institute, 1998).
Additionally, coral reefs are an inte-
gral part of the earth system bio-
geochemical processes, including
primary production, carbon and cal-
cium storage, and geological for-
Coral reef imagesfrom Menjangan Island, Bali, Indonesia
In the five mass extinctions that
have occurred on planet Earth
since life began, coral reefs have
been the first ecosystem to descend
into ecological freefall.
Ocean conditions are currently chan-
ging faster than at any other time in al-
most the last half a billion years. As a
result, coral reefs are disappearing
around the world at twice the speed of
rainforests, possibly indicating that we
are fast approaching the ‘sixth extinc-
tion’. Threatened by pollution, over-fi-
shing, dynamite and cyanide fishing,
sedimentation as well as bleaching
caused by climate change, coral reefs
are endangered on a planetary scale. It
is estimated that 20% of coral reefs
have already disappeared, 27% of the
world’s species of reef-building corals
were listed as threatened on the Inter-
national Union for Conservation of Na-
ture Red List of Species, and an esti-
THE PROSPECTS OF A WORLDWITHOUT REEFS AREDEVASTATING FOR THE GLOBAL ECONOMY, FOR AHUNGRY AND EVER GROWING WORLD POPULATIONFOR THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE OCEANS AND FOR THE LIFE OF ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS
48
mations that facilitate water flow and
upwelling. Research has demonstra-
ted that coral reefs respond more
quickly than any other ecosystem to
environmental changes -even to the
slightest changes in water tempera-
ture- because of their extremely high
sensitivity. For this reason, they are
considered an indicator or early war-
ning system for the world's oceans.
The prospects of a world without reefs
are devastating - for the global eco-
nomy, for a hungry and ever growing
world population, for the sustainability
of the oceans and for the life of all fu-
ture generations. Faced with the mag-
nitude of the problem, one small orga-
nization with big ideas has a vision to
stop the destruction of the world's
coral reefs by 2020 and restore their
beauty, health and abundance within
this century.
Since its inception in 1991, the Plane-
tary Coral Reef Foundation (PCRF), a
project of the Biosphere Foundation
(BF), has pursued an unprecedented
global mission to preserve coral reefs
through innovative programs in
science, education and technology.
From 1995 - 2008, PCRF led an expedi-
tion at sea alongside a youth leadership
program that was dedicated to map-
ping and monitoring remote coral
reefs around the world. During those
years PCRF’s ship crossed the globe
60,000 nautical miles and completed
49 comprehensive coral reef studies in
23 countries. It’s Studio of the Sea pro-
ject (www.studioofthesea.org) produ-
ced more than 50 web films -about the
state of our oceans, the decline of coral
reefs, and the life of island cultures
around the world- with the aim of ins-
piring people to make a difference in
stewarding our ocean planet. Perhaps
the most important contribution PCRF
GOALS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
PCRF launched its Coral Reef ScienceProgram in 1995 to initiated baselinestudies for coral reef health worldwide.The project uses innovative researchprotocols developed with Dr. Phil Dustan, former advisor to the EPA and Professor of Biology at the Collegeof Charleston.PCRF furthers the work of other envi-ronmental groups by providing a trus-ted source of data online free of charge. More than 150 volunteers from aroundthe world have joined PCRF’s YouthLeadership Program and apprenticed inseamanship, coral reef science, commu-nity living and cultural exchange. PCRF’s online education-outreach hubprovides an interactive program forpeople of all ages to learn about thecoral reef crisis and to identify ways thatthe individual can make a differenceand become a steward of the earth’sbiosphere. PCRF developed a Google geo-referenced program to illustrate itsarchive of data from 49 reef studies andhelped Immersive Media to innovate a360° visual mapping program for reefs.PCRF s developed Wastewater Gar-dens , an ecological wetland recyclingsystem to process black and grey water. PCRF is on the frontline of key chal-lenges such as global warming and tsu-nami destruction because it is often inremote and unexplored locations. PCRF’s Studio of the Sea producesfilms about the state of our oceans, thebeauty and decline of coral reefs, andthe life of island cultures around theworld. Perhaps the most important filmmade to date documents PCRF’s discovery of massive coral reef morta-lity in the Phoenix Islands in 2004 dueto global warming, which was used inthe film An Inconvenient Truth.PCRF has learned in its youth leader-ship program, that a basic primer forcoral reefs is needed - especially forpeople in Southeast Asia. PCRF’s “AGuide to Coral Reefs” will be publishedin Malay-Indonesian in Jakarta, 2011.
�
49
50
made with film was when PCRF provi-
ded critical imagery and data for “An In-
convenient Truth” that illustrated the
demise of reefs due to global warming.
Additionally, logs, imagery and data is
featured online at www.pcrf.org to pro-
vide a comprehensive world map with
reef data, a Google Earth demonstra-
tion project representing a planetary
sea voyage, immersive 360° underwa-
ter videos, and an educational and in-
formative hub with films, photos, and
expedition logs for the public.
Faced with the overwhelming fact that
reefs were in a global decline, PCRF
recognized that the most important
next step was to help protect reef habi-
tat and encourage people to learn
about the coral reef crisis and to get in-
volved in their preservation. Thus in
2009, PCRF turned its attention to the
‘Coral Triangle’, also known as ‘the
Amazon of the Seas’. This is the epi-
center of marine biodiversity and
abundance. It stretches from Indone-
sia to the Solomon Islands in the Paci-
fic Ocean and is considered a hotspot
of an ecological crisis. Already scien-
tists have estimated that 40% of its
reefs and mangroves are gone and the
level of continued threat to the region is
a staggering 88%. Lying just off Bali’s
northwest shore within Barat National
Park, the uninhabited island of Men-
jangan is truly a jewel. The island is
named after an indigenous deer with a
long neck and large ears that swim
each year across the channel between
the mainland and Menjangan Island.
The narrow island stretches nearly
three kilometers in length and is
graced by four temples to which the
Balinese come to make offerings of
flowers, incense and prayers an ex-
quisitely beautiful practice and a re-
flection of the sacredness that the
people of Bali hold for this island.
PCRF was invited to help further a
long-term interest to protect the coral
reef surrounding this island and en-
force a “no-take” fishing zone.
The Menjangan reef is considered the
most spectacular of the Balinese reef
systems. While most coral reefs in the
region have suffered significant devas-
tation, Menjangan’s are a comparative
treasure of biodiversity, with a wealth
of hard corals, sea fans and soft corals.
It is home to some of unusual species;
from the miniature pygmy seahorse
and ghost pipefish to the more subs-
tantial hawksbill turtle and black-tip
reef shark.
The island is small, but underwater the
reef feels enormous, with walls smo-
thered in sea fans and sponges, long
slopes tapering off into the deep blue
and shallow reef flats, bursting with
hard corals. One of the most mesme-
rizing sights is a large population of
garden eels who live on the southwest
side of the island. As the water flows
up and over the sandy bottom, these
eels emerge, swaying gently while
they face the current to enjoy a meal
as they filter out passing plankton.
Sadly, although Menjangan’s reefs
are officially protected by the national
government in Jakarta, they are now
increasingly threatened by dynamite
fishing, poorly managed tourism,
trash, plastics pollution, disease, an-
chor damage and bleaching caused
by climate change. To address these
challenges, PCRF commenced a
� THESEPEOPLEARE THE NEXT COUSTEAU. IT MAY SEEM THAT THEIR WORKIS INSIGNIFICANT ONE SMALL BOAT, ONE SMALLTEAM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN BUT IT ISNOT. IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ANYONE CAN DO TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
�
phot
os: O
rla D
oher
ty &
Abig
ail A
lling
Crew of the PCRF boat
PCRF campaigner Orla Doherty, underwater
CLIMATE CHANGE Climate change has become the greatest threat to coral reefs today. Increasingthe amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere has led to the phenomenaof increases in sea surface temperature and increases in ocean acidity. Both of these changes, but especially increased temperature, have already affected coral reefs and will become even more prominent in the future. Abnormally high seawater temperatures or large increases in ultraviolet radiation cause the coral colony to either forcibly eject or unwillingly lose itszooxanthellae. These symbiotic algae cells are where most of the coral’s colorcomes from, hence the term bleaching as the bone-white calcium carbonateskeleton is revealed through the transparent tissues of the coral’s polyps. The coral’s polyps are still alive in their bleached state, but they are seriouslyweakened. Up to 90% of their energy comes from the zooxanthellae and, without them, a coral is very susceptible to infection by disease or algal smothering. It has barely any energy left for growth or reproduction. It is possible for the polyps to regain their zooxanthellae and for life to returnto normal, but this window of opportunity is only open for so long. If theconditions do not return to normal to allow re-entry of zooxanthellae withinthis window, the coral will die. Even if all appears to return to normal, the coral has lost energy and therefore has a reduced capacity to grow, to reproduce and, possibly most significantly, to fight off disease.
DYNAMITE FISHINGMany fishermen in southeast Asiause dynamite to stun fish, therebyenabling them to make largecatches swiftly. Dynamite fishinghas been in use at Menjangan Islandand its neighboring reefs for manyyears. The bombs are homemade,from fertilizer and fuses. The blasteither kills the fish instantly or theshockwave stuns them. They floatto the surface or fall to the reef bot-tom, but also breaks up an area ofcoral reef substrate, creating a zoneof rubble on which new corals can-not settle and grow. The fertilizercomponent of the bomb continuesto act like a fertilizer on the reef, en-couraging the growth of algae,which then overgrows and chokesthe shattered substrate, preventingfurther the settlement of new coral.Dynamite fishing is therefore extre-mely destructive to coral reefs inboth the short and long-term. A sin-gle beer-bottle bomb can create acrater of 5 m2. Dynamite fishingoccurred in broad daylight, in peaktourist season, in May 2009. The shallow zones of Menjangan’sreefs have suffered most of the da-mage, as evidenced by paucity of li-ving coral in many places where onemight expect lush reef develop-ment. At these sites the rubblefrom past degradation has accumu-lated in the shallow zones where itis broken into smaller particles byphysical and biological forces (waveaction, grazing, sponge boring, bio-turbation, etc.). This broad sizespectrum of rubble (from sand tocoral fragments) drains down-slope,often enlarging the width of existingsand chutes and/or carving newpathways down the reef face. Thematerials frequently accumulate ondeeper living corals, causing the on-going death of coral tissue. Thus,past conflagrations such as dyna-mite fishing in shallow water conti-nue to be a forcing function for on-going reef degradation.
PLASTICS POLLUTION Plastics pollution has become a horrendous problem in all our seas, killing anestimated 1.5 million marine animals every year. The most famous oceanic collection of plastic debris is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch in theNorth Pacific. Plastics are a grave threat to many species of marine life whobecome entangled on abandoned plastic fishing gear, turtles that choke eatinga plastic bag because they think it is a jellyfish, and the still unknown effects ofthe breakdown of plastics into deadly PCBs on coral reef organisms. In Indo-nesia, plastic debris is a serious problem with discarded fishing gear caught onreefs, plastic bags trapped on branching corals and plastic trash in general fil-ling the beaches and shallow waters. Menjangan Island is no exception andhuge amounts of plastic wash up onto the beaches and shallow coral reefsevery day. This threatens not just the marine life but also the value of the eco-nomic goods and services provided by Menjangan Island as a tourist attraction.
PRIMARY THREATS TO MENJANGAN’S CORAL REEF
Menjangan island
phot
o: A
bigail
Allin
g
Biodiversity
51
52
long-term program that will be a cor-
nerstone of marine conservation
education in the region. Because the
success of this initiative requires ac-
curate and up-to-date information
about the ecology of the reef and its
change over time, PCRF is also wor-
king with scientists and other NGOs
to initiate a scientific study. The data
will be used as part of an overall com-
munity conservation and education-
outreach program to provide infor-
mation about what threatens the
corals and fish as well as to provide
alternative choices for future mana-
gement of the reef’s health.
The success of this program lies in
the handover of knowledge, both
science and community outreach, to
a local team that will have the capa-
city to continue to protect the reef far
into the future. It is PCRF’s task in the
next few years to work with the local
community in skill-based training such
as reef observation and fisheries ma-
nagement, dive training and options for
alternative technologies such as waste
management.
JOIN THIS INTERNATIONAL EFFORTONLINE AT:www.biosfirindonesia.org
PCRF has pursued an unprece-dented approach to preserve and protect the earth’s coral reefsthrough pioneering programs inscience and education-outreach.At the heart of PCRF’s work is ourdedication to helping the peoplemost gravely affected by the deathof coral reefs. The beauty of our earth’s coralreefs is without equal, and theworld’s reefs are on a course of unprecedented destruction. Insupport of its mission to conservebiological diversity, PCRF hasdone an unprecedented 49 comprehensive coral reef studies through 23 countries sinceits origination. PCRF’s CORALREEF SCIENCE program has cros-sed the globe to map and monitorcoral reefs across 60,000 nauticalmiles since 1995. PCRF’s STUDIOOF THE SEA (www.studioofthe-sea.org) project achieves the orga-nization’s mission by producingfilms – including more than 30web films - about the state of ouroceans, the decline of coral reefs,and the life of island culturesaround the world with the aim of inspiring people to make a difference in stewarding our oceanplanet. Perhaps the most impor-tant film made to date is PCRF’sportion of the film “An Inconvenient Truth.” PCRF’s RESEARCH AND YOUTHLEADERSHIP programs spurs par-ticipants to conserve coral reefsthrough an onboard educationalapprentice program and an online“Join The Voyage” educationaloutreach hub. SCIENTIFIC WEBOUTPUTS through www.pcrf.orgachieve the organization’s missionby providing a comprehensiveworld map with data from 49science study sites, a GoogleEarth demonstration project re-presenting a planetary sea voyage,immersive 360° underwater vi-
THE PLANETARY CORAL REEF FOUNDATION
deos, and an educational and in-formative hub with films, photos, and expedition logs forthe public. The site receives morethan one million hits per year.PCRF’s primary goal is to inspireconservation efforts through In-formation, Inspiration and Action.PCRF’s prime organizational valueis sharing information. PCRF em-bodies the belief that informationabout coral reefs belongs to eve-ryone on the planet. Encouragingothers to use it by providing freedata online is central to promotinginformation sharing amongst go-vernments, scientific institutions,organizations and foundations.PCRF’s collaborative approachprovides new inspiration for theconservation movement: volun-teers and stakeholders understand that they can make adifference and identify the contri-bution they can make to the pre-servation effort. Naturally, resear-chers use PCRF’s information andcontribute to the effort, but inspi-ration reaches beyond scientists tocommunity members who havebeen so moved by our work thatthey have joined us in the field.PCRF also turns this inspirationinto action by giving peoplehands-on ways to help save coralreefs and to lend a hand to theinhabitants who rely on the reefs.The organization reflects its values by providing online ways tomake a difference; by ensuring itsplace as a trusted source of datafor scientists and conservationists;through educational programsthat are accessible to the studentswho will become tomorrow’s pre-servationists; and through the culturally rich, hands-on collabo-ration with island peoples. At theheart of PCRF’s programs is theorganizational value that eve-ryone who participates can play a part in the solution.
PCRF SERVES THE PEOPLE OF THE PLANETTHROUGH EDUCATIONAND OUTREACH, DIRECTPROGRAMS TO DIVERSEISLAND PEOPLE, ON-SHIP CONSERVATIONTRAINING TO YOUTH FROM MORE THAN ADOZEN COUNTRIES, AND ONLINE WEB RESOURCES THAT RECEIVE MORE THAN ONE MILLION HITS A YEAR
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WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
By Rony MECATTAF
The “Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream”
SYMPOSIUM DESIGNED BY SAN FRANCISCO-BASED NGOTHE PACHAMAMA ALLIANCE
The Pachamama Alliance was created following a call that originated
in the tropical forest by the Achuar community. The Achuars live in a very isolated part of the Amazon,
an area comprised of nearly one million hectares of virgin tropical forest, between Ecuador and Peru. �
56
The Achuar culture is a tradi-
tion of dreams. Around the
end of the 1980s, the com-
munity elders saw in their dreams
that a clear danger was putting their
livelihood in jeopardy. They asked –
through their dreams – to enter into
contact with the “modern” world, a
world they didn’t know, but that see-
med to be responsible for the dan-
ger they were facing, mainly be-
cause of its thirst for oil. Already, the
Achuars’ neighboring communities
were gravely devastated, and their
lands irredeemably contaminated.
Through a series of strange events,
a group of people living in the United
States (of whom Lynne and Bill
Twist, as well as John Perkins)
heard the Achuars’ “call”, and trave-
led down to Ecuador, in the heart of
Achuar territory. During their first
visit, the Pachamama Alliance was
born, a meeting of minds between
the visitors and their hosts. The
name of that group meant that the
main aim of this association was to
preserve Pachamama, the spirit of
Mother Earth in the Quechua lan-
guage of the Achuars.
Very soon, it became clear that the
indigenous populations held within
themselves the key to safeguarding
the ecosystem. Contrary to com-
mon belief, evolution hasn’t “forgot-
ten” these communities. During the
last centuries, western civilization
developed a multitude of theories
and techniques, and it evolved
greatly. Indigenous populations,
meanwhile, have preserved a
wealth of competencies and know-
ledge in their relationship with na-
ture, as well as an understanding of
community life based on prosperity
and the renewing of natural re-
sources. These populations possess
great wisdom in this respect.
The western members of the Al-
liance soon realized that the
Achuars were grateful for that col-
laboration, which they had hoped –
and dreamed – for. But what they
were really asking for, rather than
some sort of humanitarian help,
was to “change the dream of the
North” or the dream of the modern
world. What they meant was that
modern man needed to free himself
from the spell he seemed to be
under. A hypnotic spell that drives
us into over consumption, that says
we need to thrive constantly for un-
limited growth, which we always
need to have more of. The Achuars
consider this to be a spell, a dream
that needs to be modified, transfor-
med. This, in itself, showed the ho-
listic nature of the Achuars’ ap-
proach, since they go after the root
of the problem, not its symptoms.
Their message could be synthesized
thus: “If you want to help us, start by
helping yourselves.”
In taking their task to heart, the wes-
tern visitors to the land of the
Achuars wanted to answer the ques-
tion: “How can we westerners,
through this Alliance, do our part of
the deal?” Far from advocating a way
of life that would push us back many
centuries, nor idealizing it, their idea
was to take the good in the fantastic
developments that the West has
known, while maintaining the wis-
dom of the first peoples, and the
inherent intelligence of their rela-
tionship with nature. Through this
question, the “Awakening the Drea-
mer” Symposium was born.
The Symposium is the result of many
years of work, gathering of informa-
tion on the state of the planet, inter-
views with various physicists, cosmo-
logists, spiritual guides and
psychotherapists, in order to present
to the widest possible audience a
“waking-up” tool starting with a very
simple paradigm: we are all in a le-
thargic state that makes us act
against our environment, and in fine,
against ourselves. This way of being
emerges from a series of unverified
beliefs that have grown over the cen-
turies, and most importantly since
the industrial revolution of the 18th
century. Far from offering the diagno-
sis of an incurable disease, the Sym-
posium allows us to look coura-
geously and with clarity at an instant
photograph of our present situation
in the areas of environmental sustai-
nability, social justice and spiritual
fulfillment. It then invites us to detect
the fundamental reasons that put us
in this situation. Finally, it helps us to
find within ourselves the path we
need to create to get us out of the cri-
sis, and not wait for others (our go-
vernments, NGOs, future genera-
tions…) to act in our stead.
THE SYMPOSIUM ASKS THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
1. Where are we?
Using consensual data emanating
from distinguished experts, the Sym-
posium analyzes how human beings,
as a species, contributes – or not, as
the case may be – to create a world
that is environmentally sustainable,
spiritually fulfilling and socially just. It
proposes an objective state of the
world in these three areas.
2. How did we get here?
What are the inherent causes that
contributed to the situation in which
we find ourselves? Can we possibly
act differently? Some answers are
provided, with the active participation
of the audience.
3.What is possible for the future?
Are there other options open for us?
Concrete examples are presented, as
well as various efforts underway in
various points of the globe.
4.And now, where do we go from
here?
Participants are invited to reflect
upon their own action in this new vi-
sion, which they can choose to co-
create by realizing the “new dream of
the modern world”.
I personally came into contact with
the Symposium and the Pachamama
Alliance by chance (if there be such a
thing…). It was in November 2008, in
Montreal. The message moved me
tremendously, and I decided then and
there that I wanted to be part of the
effort to deliver it. I trained as a facili-
tator, and presented it since with fel-
low facilitators in – amongst other �
57
A HYPNOTIC SPELL THATDRIVES US INTO OVER CONSUMPTION, THAT SAYS WE NEED TOTHRIVE CONSTANTLY FOR UNLIMITED GROWTH,WHICH WE ALWAYS NEEDTO HAVE MORE OF
Global Warming
58
places – Algeria, on the occasion of
the celebration of the centenary of
the Sufi Alawiyya community; Bel-
gium, to a group of fifty 16-year old
schoolchildren; Lebanon, following a
conference in the presence of the Mi-
nister of the Environment, to more
than 100 people from the business,
academic and non-profit sectors;
France, at the GRETT conference on
transpersonal psychology, to a group
of psychotherapists.
Since March 2005, the Symposium
has been presented on all continents,
in a dozen languages, and in varying
formats, ranging from 2 hours to 3
days. The content has been
constantly improved and updated, but
the developers do not pretend to have
all the answers to the questions they
pose. Therein may lay the strength of
the message, and the fantastic thrust
it manages to create everywhere it is
presented. There are today over 2,000
facilitators in the world who have
been trained to present (bona fide)
the Symposium in their neighbo-
rhoods or work environment.
IMAGINAL CELLSAccording to Elizabet Sahtouris, a
specialist in the field of evolutionary
biology, when a caterpillar reaches a
certain point in its evolution, it be-
comes over-consumptive. A vora-
cious eater that consumes hundreds
of times its own weight, a small ca-
terpillar can actually devour all the
leaves of a small tree.
At that same time, inside the molecu-
lar structure of the caterpillar, cer-
tain cells – called the “imaginal cells”
– become active. As the caterpillar is
devouring everything it encounters,
these cells wake up, look for each
other, and begin to cluster inside the
caterpillar’s body. When enough of
them connect, even without constitu-
ting the organism’s majority, they be-
come the genetic directors of the fu-
ture of the caterpillar. At that point,
the other cells begin to putrefy, beco-
ming a so-called nutritive soup, out of
which the imaginal cells create the
absolutely unpredictable miracle that
is the butterfly.
We can think of small groups of peo-
ple forming here and there right
now, and linking together to create
tomorrow’s sustainable world, as
�
59
the imaginal cells of the planet. How
is that for a new Dream?...
THE PROPHECY OF THE EAGLEAND THE CONDORThe prophecy of the eagle and the
condor is a centuries-old legend,
passed down by the First Peoples of
South America. According to ancient
indigenous legends that go back mil-
lennia, the Eagle is the bird that re-
presents societies that are very ma-
terialistic and very human-oriented.
The Condor represents spiritual so-
cieties, and ones that feel more inte-
grated with their environment.
It is said of the People of the Eagle
that it perceives life through its men-
tal capacity above all else. In this mo-
ment in our history, it would have at-
tained the height of its development
thanks to a sophisticated understan-
ding, and would be materially richer
than any of its preceding generations.
But spiritually, it would be impoveri-
shed to the point of having its survival
in jeopardy.
It is said of the People of the Condor
that it lives first and foremost with the
heart, the spirit world and the five
senses. According to the Prophecy, in
this moment in history, it would be
very advanced in intuitive perception
and relationship with other species.
But on the material side, it would be
impoverished to the point of being in
danger of extinction, principally
through its contact with the People of
the Eagle.
The legend says that every five hun-
dred years, humankind goes through
a new cycle. The last cycle is said to
have begun at the end of the 1400’s,
roughly at the time of Christopher Co-
lumbus. It was predicted that during
that cycle, the Eagle would dominate,
but within five hundred years, that
cycle would start to change, and the
Eagle and the Condor would fly toge-
ther in the same skies. We have, ac-
cording to this legend, the great op-
portunity to participate actively in the
“Great Turning”, in the words of
Joanna Macy, that this end of cycle
and beginning of a new one represent.
Every human being needs to – and
can – integrate what each of these
two worlds have to offer, without mi-
nimizing the value of either. So eve-
ryone can benefit.
WE ARE ALL INA LETHARGIC STATETHAT MAKES US ACT AGAINST OURENVIRONMENT AND IN FINE AGAINST OURSELVES
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN (IWRM)
By Dr. Fadi G. COMAIR
Water
Many countries around the world confront challenges related to water resources, in the frame of their fight for sustainable economic and social
development. The increasing demand of water resources, the degradation of its quality as well as the bad management of natural
resourcescause the water to be much more vulnerable and limited. �
versity resources and socio-econo-
mic development. This region repre-
sents a ideal context for the applica-
tion of world vision, mainly regarding
the water resource status and mana-
gement suggested during the Rio
summit in 1992, Rio + 5 at Johannes-
burg (1997) and the Global Water
Forum in Mexico City in 2006.
The creation of a database compre-
hending the technical characteristics
on water resources in the region as
well as the socio-economic criteria of
the countries located in the Mediter-
ranean basin is a necessary task to
launch the IWRM process.
It is worth mentioning that the appli-
cation of such process in the Mediter-
ranean region was conducted by se-
veral international institutions such
as: Global Water Partnership (GWP),
European Union Water Initiative
(EUWI) and the Euro-Mediterranean
water information system (EMWIS).
In the following section a review of the
important elements in relation to the
water resources status in the Medi-
terranean region as well as the chal-
lenges of the future development are
presented.
DEMOGRAPHY The increase of the population consti-
tutes the dominant factor of the eco-
nomical, social and environmental
development in the Mediterranean
region. The population of the
Mediterranean countries
that counted 246 million
inhabitants in 1960 will
reach in 2025 approximately
550 millions.
This demographic status,
combined with the intensive
urbanization, underlines the
concentration of population
and their activities essentially
in costal regions. Moreover,
in the majority of the Mediter-
ranean countries more than
80 %of the population is
supplied with drinking
water, but this percentage
decreases to 60 %in rural
southern regions. The ac-
cess to sanitation on the �
This fact is becoming more ob-
vious in the Mediterranean re-
gion where the sectoral ap-
proaches of the water management
are always present in a number of
countries and are unable to meet the
contemporary needs for a sustaina-
ble management. The region is in
need for a general master plan and a
future strategy that takes into ac-
count the water cycle and integrates
technical, environmental, social and
economical parameters.
In this context, the need for an integra-
ted approach is currently crucial to
supply the future generations with
pure water in sufficient quantity and to
preserve the environment and the eco-
system in the Mediterranean basin. .
During the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro (1992) and within the scope of
the Agenda 21, chapter 18, paragraph
18.6: the term “Integrated Water Re-
sources Management” (IWRM) was
defined as the following:
“The holistic management of drin-
king water as a finite and vulnerable
resource, and the integration of sec-
toral water plans and programs wi-
thin the framework of national eco-
nomic and social policy, are of
absolute importance for action in the
1990s and beyond”
For this purpose, the process laun-
ched to adopt the IWRM by the inter-
national and governmental agencies
initially aimed at helping countries in
their efforts exerted to treat the
water-related issues in an effective
and sustainable way.
The “Global Water Partnership”
(GWP) has defined the IWRM as: “A
process to promote the development
and the management of water re-
sources, lands and other relative re-
sources, in order to maximize the
economic and social welfare resul-
ting from the equitable means wi-
thout compromising the sustainabi-
lity of indispensable ecosystems”.
These two definitions lead us to dis-
tinguish among three fundamental
mainstays of IWRM which are:
�Set up an environment that pro-
motes policies and appropriate re-
gulations.
� Implement an Institutional Frame-
work.
�Organize the Management Instru-
ments that should be applied by
the institutions.
WATER MANAGEMENT IN THEMEDITERRANEAN BASINThe political and social environment
prevailing in the Mediterranean re-
gion is considered as representative
of the relationship between the North
and the South East to the other parts
of the planet, due to the climate di-
Different climatic zones in the Mediterranean basin
62
Water fall in Morocco
64
southeastern shore reveals an im-
portant backwardness to drinking
water in serving supply system.
The countries localized on this shore
of the Mediterranean basin are also
facing an increasing degradation for
the remaining natural resources.
The water stress constitutes a threat
for the food security of the popula-
tions and binds their economical de-
velopments particularly for poor
countries located in arid and semi-
arid rural areas.
CLIMATE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASINThe principal climate characteristics
that prevail in the Mediterranean
basin are:
�Sunshine.
�Drought periods.
�Winter relatively mild.
�Abundance of precipitations in
winter along the coast.
�Snow on high mountains.
�Marine wind current.
climate that governs more than 40 %
of the basin and widely present in
Africa and Middle East as well as in
many regions in Spain and Anatolia.
The different climate zones of the
Mediterranean basin are presented
The annual average precipitation le-
vels are extremely different; starting
with few centimeters on the shore of
Syrtes, in Libya to reach more than 4
meters over the most watered sum-
mits on the western Balkan (max.
4.64 meter over Montenegro). The
rain records of the basin shows that
the input of precipitations are une-
qually distributed since 2/3 of the
total annual average of 1100 km³, are
concentrated over 1/5 of the surface
of the basin. France, Turkey and Italy
are the three Mediterranean coun-
tries which receive half of this vo-
lume. Italy is the most watered state
(with 300 km³) while the countries of
the African littoral don’t receive more
than 13 % of this volume. These pre-
cipitations intensified in winter sea-
� THE POPULATION OFTHE MEDITERRANEANCOUNTRIES THATCOUNTED 246 MILLION INHABITANTS IN 1960 WILL REACH IN 2025 APPROXIMATELY 550 MILLIONS
In general, the climate is humid in the
coast, more contrasted on high
mountains in the North and in the
plains of the occidental and continen-
tal Europe. The aridity exists in the
south, where desert extends till the
sea in Libya. These diversified re-
lieves resulted in an arid or semi-arid
65
Table 1 & 2: The annual average volumes of precipitations and flows for each country per km³
CCountry Volume in km Country Volume in km
Spain 112
France 123
Italy 296
Malta 0.16
Slovenia 6.5
Croatia 26.5
Bosnia Herzegovina 22
Serbia &
Montenegro
22
Macedonia 18
Albania 42.7
Greece 113.4
Cyprus 4.4
Turkey 137.6
Syria 13.5
Lebanon 8.2
Israel 3
West Bank 1.4
Gaza 0.1
Egypt 12
Libya 10
Tunisia 33
Algeria 68.5
Morocco 21
Table 1: Table 2:
Country Volume in km Country Volume in km
Spain 28
France 64
Italy 182.5
Malta 0.05
Slovenia 4.20
Croatia 18
Bosnia Herzegovina 14
Serbia &
Montenegro
16
Macedonia 5.4
Albania 26.9
Greece 58
Cyprus 0.78
Turkey 66
Syria 5
Lebanon 4.8
Israel 0.63
West Bank 0.57
Gaza 0.8
Egypt 12
Libya 10
Tunisia 3.7
Algeria 12
Morocco 5
Table 1: Table 2:
son of 50 to 100 days per year and
present usually a torrential condition.
The high irregularity factors of the
precipitation flow causes grounds
erosion as well as natural catas-
trophes such as landslide. The plu-
viometer widely varies according to
the following range of years:
�One year out of three is identified
as being “dry” and two years out of
three present an intensity under
the average.
�A decennial year characterized as
“dry” with precipitations that fall
mainly over 2/3 of the averages of
nine out of ten years.
These aforementioned climate para-
meters related to the Mediterranean
basin shows that the weakness and ir-
regularity of precipitations are the
main cause of the high irrigation water
consumption volume in the region.
The annual average flow collected by
the watercourses and the aquifers
are spread between 2 meters and
less than 10 mm of precipitation, or �
Lebanon
2 millions m3 and less than 10000 m³
per km². The northern chain of
mountains, starting from the Pyre-
nees till the Taurus, receive the most
abundant flows and reach a maxi-
mum at the Alp and the western of
the peninsula of Balkan, from the
Dalmatie till Albany. The average of
inputs can be found on the eastern
shore countries in semi-arid regions,
while the volume of low precipitations
are located in the arid regions at the
South of the basin. Theses cumula-
ted inputs that reach 517 km³ per
year are unequally distributed since
3/4 of the total volume are only pro-
duced over 1/3 of the basin. The ba-
sins of Po and Rhone receive 20 % of
- North (Europe) 949 531 km²
- South (Africa) 661 864 km²
- East (Middle East) 225 025 km²
BASIN OF PARCELED TYPE HAVING SEVERAL FORMS:a. Six river basins which extend over
50 000 km²: Nile, Rhone, Ebro, Po,
Moulouya, Evros - Ergene.
b. Eleven basins of more than 10000
km².
c. Many small river basins of less
than 10000 km².
As to the outflow, the watercourses
can be classified as the following:
a. An average outflow for three rivers
of more than 1000 m3 per second:
Nile in Assouan, Rhone and Po.
the total flows. This repartition in-
fluences the river basins renewable
water resources of each country.
SURFACE AND FLOW OF MEDITERRANEAN RIVER BASINSWe distinguish two forms of the Me-
diterranean basin surface:
Basin of variable geometry with two
variations:
a. The area of the whole basin, added
to the entire Nile basin reaches
4562480 km².
b. The area of the conventional basin,
with the part of the Nile basin loca-
lized only in Egypt, reaches
1836480 km² and is distributed as
following:
�
Arpy lake, La Thuile,
Aosta valley, Italy
67
Water
b. The outflow of ten other rivers va-
rying between 100 and 1000 m³ per
second: Adige, Axios – Vadar, Cey-
han, Drin, Ebro, Goksu, Neretva,
Seyhan, Strymon, Tiber.
The most important Mediterranean ri-
vers (with an average outflow > 10 km³
per year) are presented in table 3.
The majority of the Mediterranean
sub-basins hydrographic boundaries
rarely coincide with the political bor-
ders of countries. Thus, the water ba-
lance of the basin nations should
comprehend the water transboun-
dary flows coming from a neighbo-
ring country added to those existing
in the national territories of each
country. This is the case of Switzer-
land which supplies France and Italy,
Bulgaria an upstream country sup-
ply, Macedonia and Greece, and mas-
sively from countries of the upper
Nile basin to Egypt. The inputs of non
coastal countries to the Mediterra-
nean Basin reach about 110 km³/year
(including the Nile) and this supple-
mentary discharge increase the in-
ternal flows at a rate of 20 percent.
In the Middle East, the Jordan River
(42 500 km²) which empties into the
Dead Sea is considered as closed
basin and is shared out by five coun-
tries: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jor-
dan and Israel. The Jordan River will
be subject to a special study within
the context of the peace process in
the Middle East. The watercourses
and aquifers which naturally flow into
the Mediterranean Sea discharge an
average flow of around 470 km³/year
among which 40 km³/year are under-
ground flows with strong inequality
between the north and the south
(85% throughout the northern shore
of Europe and Turkey and 15% on the
southern and eastern shore). It is
worth to mention that a significant
part of the Mediterranean water-
course natural outflows does not
reach the sea because of its overuse.
This is the case of countries like
Spain, Tunisia as well as Egypt where
the Nile outflow discharges in the sea
was reduced by six of its initial vo-
lume. Loss of fresh water flows dis-
charged in the Mediterranean Sea is
evaluated of more than 15 percent of
the total watercourses outflow.
RENEWABLE AND EXPLOITABLE RESOURCESThe renewable water resources of
each country are calculated by the
Table 3: Characteristics of Mediterranean rivers of important outflow
�
addition of internal resources (being
surface or groundwater) and of exter-
nal resources originating in neighbo-
ring countries from trans-boundary
rivers or aquifers. The volume of
these resources is unequally distri-
buted among the basin regions and
presents for a year of average preci-
pitations the following:
�480 km³ / year in the north (Europe).
�78 km³ / year in the south (Africa).
�82.6 km³ / year in the east (Middle
East).
Italy, France, Greece and Turkey are
the four countries which receive the
highest level of precipitations in the
basin. They cumulate 407 km³/ year
which constitute 2/3 of the renewable
resources total volume. The poorest
countries as Cyprus, Malta, Libya
and the Palestinian Territories do not
calculate their water resources in
billions of m³/year anymore but in
millions.
Moreover, internal and external flows
are highly different and show indica-
tors of the independence of water re-
sources. Being abundant or not, this
natural resource is just partially
“available” and “exploitable”. The
sharing among countries whether
they are providers of water in ups-
tream river or receivers in downs-
tream river are fixed according to the
technical, economical, environmen-
tal and geopolitical criteria.
The indicator of countries water inde-
pendence all around the Mediterra-
nean basin shows the rareness of the
resource and the compensation
through water transfers from other
regions with better provision, for ins-
tance, in Spain from the Tage river, Is-
rael from the Jordan River and Libya
that extract more than 60 % of its
NName Length
(km)
Catchment basin area
(km )
Natural outflow average
m3/s km /year
Nile (entire)
(el-Bahr)
6 617 2 870 000 2 660 84
Rhone 812 98 845 1 940 61.2
Po 676 70 090 1 480 46.7
Drin + Buna 151 19 582 680 21.4
Ebro 930 86 000 593 18.7
Neretva 210 12 750 377 11.9
Table 3: characteristics of Mediterranean rivers of important outflow
68
water resources from pumped fossil
ground aquifers in the desert (Non-
sustainable resources).
The comparison between the re-
sources of a country and its popula-
tion reveals the indicator of richness
and poorness in water of the territory.
The actual average water quantity of
the whole Mediterranean basin is
considered as 1400 m³ /year per
inhabitant. This indicator determines
the reference water level widely ac-
cepted by the international agencies
and which are classified under three
categories:
1 . Water scarcity i<500 m³/year.
2 . Water shortage or water stress
500<i<1000 m³/year.
3 . Acceptable minimum amount
i = 1000 m³ /year.
The practical application of this clas-
sification shows that for 250 million
inhabitants of the Mediterranean
basin, 74 million will suffer from
“Water stress” and 48 millions from
“water scarcity”; regardless the other
local seriously difficult conditions to
be managed in some countries.
Strong disparity appears in the Medi-
terranean basin where the indicator
on the average of consumable re-
sources per inhabitant varies of less
than 10m³ / year for Gaza and Malta
and more than 10000 m³ / year in
Croatia and Bosnia. The average vo-
lumes per sub-region present a great
difference in m³ / year: 2254 m³ / year
in the north, 1339 m³ / year in the east
and 572 m³ / year in the south.
�
69
Water
THE WATERCOURSESAND AQUIFERSWHICH NATURALLYFLOW INTO THE MEDITERRANEANSEA DISCHARGE ANAVERAGE FLOW OF AROUND 470 KM³/YEAR
WATER DEMANDSBY SECTOR OF USE The total annual volume of water
use for all the consumption sectors
in the Mediterranean basin is esti-
mated to be about 200 billions of m³.
This quantity translates that water
for irrigation is considered to be the
main consumption sector in almost
all the basin countries, then comes
after the domestic demands to
meet the needs of the populations
growth and the industries connec-
ted to the public networks. Thus, the
great quantity of water used in every
country depends on the populations
growth and the irrigation schemes de-
velopment. This is the case of Egypt
and Italy which are classified as the
“most irrigating” countries since they
cumulate together a volume of water
of 115 km³ annually, over the half of the
exploited total amount. According to
the "Blue Plan", water demands in
every sector of use are distributed as
the following:
�Community /drinking Water
37.9 km³ / year (13 percent).
� Irrigation
181 km³ / year (63 percent).
� Industries
32.4 km³ / year (11 percent).
�Power (cooling)
37.9 km³ / year (13 percent).
The demand of water in the power
sector for the cooling of nuclear
plants is predominant in France.
Based on the importance of the irri-
gation of the region and especially of
Egypt in the south and Italy in the
north, the repartition of water de-
mands in the Mediterranean Basin is
quite equilibrated and distributed as
the following:
�90 km³ / year in the north.
�82 km³ / year in the south .
�29 km³ / year in the east .
CHALLENGES OF THE WATER GOVERNANCEAND MANAGEMENT In the Mediterranean countries and
all along the years, the development
of water management depended on
the particular needs of each water
sector and neglecting the integrated
balance of the whole demands.
This sectorial management approach
as well as the lack of coordination and
cooperation among the different ins-
titutions assigned to the utilization of
this resource contributes in the water
governance and management crisis
in the Mediterranean basin.
In this context, the primordial preoc-
cupation of countries located in the
southeastern Mediterranean basin is
to draw up the conceptual frame of a
good governance of resources as well
as the necessary means for the appli-
cation of the integrated management
of this sector. This plan aims to pro-
mote a balanced situation between
the demands and the available re-
sources in these countries.
Then, the implementation process
of IWRM does not constitute a fini-
shed product but a dynamic process
that should be adapted to the level
of each water basin in consideration
to the technical, social and econo-
mical characteristics relevant to
each situation.
In fact, it is a process of equilibrium
bringing a number of means, tools
and methods to ensure the develop-
ment and the management of water
resources with a priority goal to rea-
lize food security and water sustaina-
bility. The implementation of such in-
novated concept will incite the
political authorities to join their ef-
forts in order to ensure its success.
Moreover, the comprehension of
users of the necessity to change the
water management approach as well
as the manner on the basis of which
the institutions will enhance this
change constitutes a prerequisite for
the application of IWRM.
The preparation of such synergy le-
vels is not easy at all.
The most realistic approach will pro-
bably be to develop progressively the
synergies for each of the phases with
clear objective and demonstrative
advantages.
Morocco
70
TOPOGRAPHICAL RELIEF ANDPRECIPITATIONSLebanon, with a total surface of
10452 km² is located at the eastern
coast of the Mediterranean Sea and
extends all along 210 km at the coast
and 50 km inside the Lebanese terri-
tories. It has common borders from
the north and the east with Syria and
from the south with Israel and the oc-
cupied Palestinian territories.
Administratively, Lebanon is divided
into six districts or provinces. As to
the topographical side, it can be divi-
ded into four parallel parts heading
from the West to the East:
�Coastal and narrow flat belt all
along the sea.
�Mount Lebanon assembly line with
maximum height of 3000 m.
�Valley of Bekaa with an altitude of
900 m over sea level.
�Anti Lebanon assembly line going
in height to 2800 m to the east.
In Lebanon, the climate is typically Me-
diterranean. It is characterized by
strong precipitations during winter fol-
lowed by a dry period with high humi-
dity during the remaining seven
months of the year. However, the in-
fluence of the sea, the particularities of
the topography and the presence of the
Syrian desert in the North create a va-
riation of microclimate inside the coun-
try with contrast of the distribution of
both temperature and precipitations.
The annual average temperature is
20 ºC prevailing over the coast (va-
rying between 13ºC in winter and 27
ºC in summer), 16 ºC in the Bekaa
valley (between 5 ºC in winter and 26
ºC in summer), and less than 10 ºC
on high altitude over the mountains
(between 0 ºC in winter and 18 ºC in
summer).
The annual precipitation average is
estimated to be about 800 mm, va-
rying between 600 and 900 mm along
the coast and 1400 mm over the
mountains. It decreases to 400 mm in
eastern regions and less than 200
mm in the northeastern regions of
the country.
Over 2000 m of altitude, the essential
precipitations are snow and can help
in giving rise to good outputs for 2000
water sources during the dry periods.
Precipitations are produced in 80 or
90 days of the year, mainly between
October and April. Approximately, 75
% of the total volume of the surface
flow took place during five months,
extending from January till May, 16 %
of June and July and only 9% for the
remaining five months from August
till December.
WATER BALANCE IN LEBANONThe water cycle in Lebanon, for an
average precipitation year, can be re-
sumed as the following: (Table 1)
Approximately, one billion m³ of this
volume of water flow comes from
more than 2000 sources, with uni-
tary average flow of 10 to 15 l/s. Such
volume is assessed out of the perpe-
tual flow of 17 watercourses being
part of 40 principal river basins flo-
wing in the country.
While the global water annual vo-
lume empties in the sea and a part of
it goes towards the neighboring
By Dr. Fadi G. COMAIR
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
WATERRESOURCES IN LEBANON
countries, groundwater faces major
difficulties for their control, because
of the geological karstic conditions.
Water resources in use in Lebanon
are estimated to be around 1.5 billion
m³ per year distributed among do-
mestic, irrigation, municipal and in-
dustrial sectors of the country with an
increasing annual demands that will
generate starting 2015 an enormous
water balance deficit.
The most important watercourses in
Lebanon derive from the Litani that
constitutes only about 28 % of the
total surface flows of the country.
The annual total volume of ground
water in Lebanon is estimated at
567 mm³ whereas the flow in dry pe-
riod (July till October) in the different
71
Lebanese basins is evaluated
around 141 mm³.
The hydrographic system of the
country shows three international
watercourses:
�El Assi watercourse (Orontus), si-
tuated in the north of the Bekka
Valley. It flows towards Syria to the
northeast of the country to end up
in Turkey.
�Hasbani watercourse situated in the
south east; the Hasbani which flows
towards Palestine and Israel consti-
tutes a tributary of the Jordan River.
�Nahr El Kebir watercourse in the
north which constitutes the border
line between Syria and Lebanon.
Nahr EL Kebir empties then in the
Mediterranean Sea.
Aammiq reserve river
These three transboundary basins
were subject to a strategic study in
this book in the scope of the negotia-
tions with the reparian States.
The hydraulic resources of Lebanon
show that the country owns a favora-
ble situation in what concerns the
cumulative flows, but the constraints
of its utilization come from their limi-
ted availability during the five months
dry season of the year that go from
June till October (JJASO) and the
Karstic geological complicated na-
ture of the country.
WATER DEMAND IN LEBANON1. Population The official study which is the most
reliable to estimate the Lebanese po-
pulation was undertaken by the Mi-
nistry of Interior (electoral lists) and
by the Ministry of Social Affairs with
the participation of the UNDP and
UNRWA. These sources indicate that
the current population counts 4.8
million inhabitants, with an average
annual growth rate of 2.5 %.
The distribution of the Lebanese
population as well as the Palesti-
nian refugees in different regions of
the country is presented as the fol-
lowing:
�North region
1000000 inhabitants.
�Beirut & Mount Lebanon
2300000 inhabitants.
�South Lebanon
670000 inhabitants. �
72
�Bekaa
580000 inhabitants.
2. Drinking water demandThe studies done by the Ministry of
Energy and Water showed a link bet-
ween the drinking water needs and
the social, economical and cultural
levels of the country. As a follow up of
several inquiries related to this sub-
ject, the General Directorate of Hy-
draulic and Electric Resources
(GDHER) considered that the daily
needs per inhabitant are 200 l/day /
person with an added water rate of
3.5 % while taking into account the
big consumers and municipal use.
It is worth to mention that the effi-
ciency of the drinking water networks
is evaluated to 70 %. The calculation
of these technical settings allow to
present the final daily value of water
needs per inhabitant which corres-
ponds to 230 liters.
The studies of the GDHER showed
that the annual drinking water
country demands are about 500
mm³. The necessary volume to
meet the demands of the consu-
mers during the dry period of the
year, meaning July, August, Sep-
tember and October (JASO) reaches
250 Mm³. In percentage, they are
stated as the following:
�North region
22 %
�Beirut & Mount Lebanon
46 %
�South Lebanon
16 %
�Bekaa
16 %
3. Water demand for irrigationIn the year 2004, the FAO and the Mi-
nistry of Agriculture (MoA) in Leba-
non published a detailed study about
the irrigated areas which were esti-
mated about 100000 ha. These irriga-
ted surface areas are dispersed in the
following districts:
�
Tannourine
Water
73
El Bared5%
Abou Ali5%
El Jaouz1%
El Aassi (Orontes)14%
Nahr Ibrahim9%
El Kelb9%Nahr Beirut
4%
El Damour5%
Litani (Upstream)21%
Aw ali + Litani (dow nstream)
7%
El Hasbani3%
Other12%
El Aarqa1%
El Ostouene2%
El Kebir 2%
Table 2: total division of the main rivers of the country
Total division of the main rivers of the country
�North Lebanon
30000 ha.
�Beirut & Mount Lebanon
10700 ha.
�South Lebanon
21000 ha.
�Bekaa
40000 ha.
The FAO study has presented the fi-
gures concerning the yearly water
need per hectare which varies bet-
ween 6000 and 10300 m3 at the head
of the network. This variation de-
pends in general on the cultivated
species but more specifically from
the irrigation methods, status of net-
works and climate of the country.
4. Hydraulic balance in LebanonA detailed study of the hydraulic ba-
lance in Lebanon calculated starting
from the year 2000 for a projection of
40 years and taking into account all
the water sectors of use. The settings
and hypothesis of calculation used in
the present study are the following:
1. Population in 2000 : 4.5 million.
2. Annual growth rate: 2.7 %.
3. Irrigated surface: 10000 ha in 2000
and 280000 ha in 2040.
4. Water consumption per ha:
10000 m³/ year in the year 2000;
8000 m³/year starting 2015; 6000
m³/ year for 2020 – 2040 .
5. Domestic and industrial use per
person/ day: 300 Liters.
6. Mobilized water resources: �
No. DesignationFlows (Mm )
Inputs Outputs Total
1 Total annual precipitations 8200
2Natural evaporation and
transpiration4100
3Losses in groundwater
towards neighboring countries300
4Losses in surface waters in
towards neighboring countries648
5 Sea spring sources 385
6 Total renewable waters 2700
6.1 Ground water 567
6.2 Surface waters 2200
Tableau 1: water balance in Lebanon
Table 1: Total division of the main rivers of the country
1.5 billion m³/ year in 2000, 2.1 billion
m³/ year in 2015 and 2.7 billion m³
/year in 2040.
DRINKING WATER PROJECTS Before the 1960s, few regions in Le-
banon beneficiated from the commo-
dities of drinking water. During the
1960s, the Lebanese government has
undertaken a plan of large scale to
install distribution networks for drin-
king water with the intent to ensure
this resource in all the regions of the
country. The criteria adopted at this
period for the daily drinking and do-
mestic water needs were 100 liters
per day and per inhabitant. Also, the
life duration as well as the dimensio-
ning of the networks was calculated
for duration of 25 years.
Starting from the 1990s, these instal-
lations become decayed and their ca-
pacities could not meet the needs of
the population which experienced
many migrations because of the war
or due to the urban expansion of the
main cities in the country.
During this period, the major efforts
were exerted by the MEW and CDR to
rehabilitate the drinking water net-
works and the annexed installations,
reinforce their capacities, or even,
find new water resources in order to
fill the increase of the daily demand.
The purpose of this approach was to
ensure the continuous water supply
to the Lebanese population. Thus,
the actual tendency of the Lebanese
Government is to:
�Rehabilitate the drinking water
distribution network and ensure
this resource to the cities and vil-
lages that are not provided with
this service.
�Ameliorate the conditions of the
services, starting from the re-
sources and the infrastructures.
� Improve the efficiency of the drin-
king water distribution networks
�Reinforce the partnership with the
private sector in the management
of this utilities.
COLLECTION AND TREATMENTOF WASTE WATERThe process of optimization regar-
ding the implementation of waste
water treatment plants in Lebanon
represents a complicated task to be
solved on the bases of technical and
economical criteria. In fact, the ade-
quate alternative to be adapted
should be based on a compromise
between the following objectives and
the constraints:
�Best protection of the environment
Reuse of treated waste water for
irrigation and artificial recharge of
aquifers in the coastal regions.
�Budget constraints concerning
the investments, operation and
maintenance.
Thus, it is necessary for Lebanon that
the technical planning scheme would
74
be based in its extent on the principal
calibrated watersheds and not on the
sub basins or joint basins. This ap-
proach is directly related to the
mountainous topography and the un-
controlled demographic develop-
ment which complicate more and
more the process of decision.
Under these conditions, the following
actions should be taken:
�Optimization of the treatment plants
investment, operation and mainte-
nance costs proportionally to its ca-
pacity by equivalent inhabitant.
�Reduction of the pumping and lif-
ting stations.
�Reduction of the treatment plants
number with the advantages that
this procures on the maintenance
level and the sludge treatment
management.
This approach will allow an optimal
utilization of water reuse for munici-
pal and irrigation development
schemes and to quickly absorb and
increasing discharges due to the de-
mographic development of urban ci-
ties in Lebanon.
In 1993, the Lebanese Government
delegated to the MEW and CDR the
launching of a wide program in the
waste water treatment sector in order
to supply the needs of environmental
protection and public health.
The 10 year strategic plan went
through the actual situation of the
waste water construction program
treatment plant in Lebanon in order to
show the advance studies and works
stage as well as the priorities to be
applied in the legislative, administra-
tive, technical and financial domains.
The scheme plan for waste water treat-
ment in Lebanon (2000), foresees with
regard to the increasing demographic
development surrounding the cities,
the construction of 20 priority plants as
a beginning, to meet the waste water
collection and treatment of 75% to 80%
of the Lebanese population.
With regard to the rare lands on the
Lebanese coast and their high price
in m² near the cities, the optimal use
of the area should be a permanent
concern of the responsible designers.
These experts suggested that the
Dinnye will affect inescapably the
supply of drinking water in Tripoli.
This would be produced, for instance,
when a treatment plant of waste
water of the upstream region breaks
down for any technical reasons.
Unfortunately, the municipality of Tri-
poli has accepted the construction of
the treatment plant, exclusively for the
residuary waters of Tripoli, Mina, Bed-
daoui and Kalamoun, without taking in
account as it was mentioned previously
in the design, the collection of waste
water resulting from the upstream dis-
tricts. It is important to mention that in
2006, the French Agency of Develop-
ment has launched the study and
construction of residuary water collec-
�
Nahr Brahim
THE PROCESS OF OPTIMIZATION REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTSIN LEBANON REPRESENTS A COMPLICATED TASKTO BE SOLVED ON THEBASES OF TECHNICALAND ECONOMICALCRITERIA
conventional treatment plants (Acti-
vated sludge) which require big sur-
faces (0.1 to 0.3 m² per inhabitant) ac-
cording to the size and performance
of treatment, shall be replaced by the
compacted plants with technical per-
formances.
The development of high perfor-
mance compact technologies for the
residuary water treatment such as
biological reactors of fixed cultivation
or biological filtration are very suita-
ble for the coastal zones. For ins-
tance, a biological infiltration system
with a land occupation of 0.4 to 0.006
m2 par person used for a city of 2 mil-
lion inhabitants, can be placed on a
land of only 40000 m² or under the
natural ground.
The MEW have foreseen the collec-
tion and the treatment of waste water
of Koura, Zgharta, Minye and a part of
Dinniye districts through the treat-
ment plant located in Tripoli. This ap-
proach was suggested in order to
preserve the quality of ground water
that supplies the city from the Habb
source aquifer. Thus, any pollution in-
filtrating in the ground water in the
regions of Koura, Zgharta, Minie and
Water
75
tion and treatment plant situated in the
region of Koura. As to the 14 treatment
plants of Becharre district, planned wi-
thin the global waste water frame-
work, the MEW considered that it
would be necessary to reexamine the
locations of these plants and reduce
their number in a way to mitigate the
costs of expropriation, construction,
operation and maintenance by preser-
ving the touristic site of the Saints Val-
ley (Kadisha).
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LITANI BASINThe Litani River is the major national
Lebanese watercourse that takes it
rise from Baalbeck (source of Aalleik) �
at an altitude of 1000m. It crosses
through the Bekaa plain to form after
a bend in South Lebanon near the
Beaufort castle and discharge in the
Mediterranean Sea in Qasmieh near
Tyre city. The surface of its water-
shed, evaluated to be 2175 Km², co-
vers approximately 20% of the total
surface of the Lebanese territory. Its
annual average flow is estimated to
be 700 mm³ and passes through the
national Lebanese territory. This river
takes its importance and from the de-
velopment of projects which are ac-
tually in operation or that shall be rea-
lized therein in the near future. The
Litani projects will generate direct
economic benefits to the rural socie-
ties of the Bekaa and South Lebanon.
Before stating the present situation
and prospects of the Litani future, it is
necessary to recall that the great
merit for the development of this na-
tional project goes back in 1958 to the
engineers Alfred Naccache, Ibrahim
Abdel Al, Selim Lahoud and Cheikh
Maurice Gemayel. These well known
Engineers and planners have grasped
all the importance of this river for the
socio-economic future of Lebanon.
In 1952, the Lebanese Government at
the time of the mandate of President
Camille Chamoun, called for an Ame-
rican commission representing the
Bureau of Reclamation, one of the
prominent authorities of the United
76
States of Interior specialized in wa-
ters and dams, in order to establish an
exhaustive and global study of this
basin. This commission arrived to Le-
banon in 1952, at the same time with
the Johnston mission which was sent
to the region, by the United States Go-
vernment in order to draw the base
lines for the sharing of the Jordan
River sharing among riparian states.
In 1954, The U.S mission of the “Bureau
of Reclamation” published its six vo-
lumes report entitled “Integrated Ma-
nagement of the Litani Basin” and pre-
sent it to the Lebanese Government.
The major lines of this document
concern the following themes:
� Irrigation sector
The construction of Qaraoun and
Khardale dams designated for the ir-
rigation of a surface evaluated
around 21000 ha in the Bekka and
31500 ha in the South.
�Drinking water sector
The construction of Bisri dam plan-
ned to supply Beirut city with water.
�Hydroelectric production
The creation of six hydroelectric units
with a potential of 170 Megawatts.
The report of the U.S Bureau of Re-
clamation motivated the Lebanese
government to create on the 14th of
August 1954 the Litani River Authority
(LRA). The official decree of the LRA
implementation stated that an inde-
pendent office should be created with
the objective of executing irrigation,
drainage, drinking water and energy
projects, in the framework of a global
management plan for the Lebanese
water resources.
It is important to notice that since
1954, the policy followed by the LRA,
was to start the execution of the hy-
droelectric plants with the intent to fi-
nance from the power production, the
irrigation and drinking water supply.
On the basis of this approach the Le-
banese officials at that time, believed
that they were able to ensure the ne-
cessary financing of the major deve-
lopment phases of the LRA project. In
1970s, the development works of the
LRA were completely blocked be-
cause of the wars that started in Le-
banon and mainly during the Israeli
occupation of the South.
Another important launching of the
projects started in 1993 with the de-
velopment of a strategic five-year
plan initiated by Dr. Fadi Comair,
chairman of LRA.
This plan focused on several major
strategic orientations:
Development of about 57000 ha irri-
gation schemes located in the Bekaa
(25000 ha) and South Lebanon (32000
ha) including the rehabilitation of the
Qaraoun dam.
�
Hasbani river
Water
77
Rehabilitation of hydroelectric pro-
duction plants.
Design of Bisri dam designated for
the distribution of drinking water to
Beirut city.
Design of Khardale dam for the irri-
gation schemes in South Lebanon.
Vision on the institutional reform.
Administrative recovery plan and mo-
dernization of the LRA departments.
The LRA five-year plan was presen-
ted to two official delegations of the
World Bank who visited Lebanon in
1993. Following these visits, the
chairman of the Board Dr. Fadi Co-
mair mandated by the Minister of
Agriculture (MoA) Dr. Adel Cortas, vi-
sited in 1994 the World Bank in
Washington for the negotiation of a
loan agreement out of which 15 mil-
lion US$ were allocated to rehabili-
tate the LRA irrigation projects.
In 1996 the rehabilitation of the Kas-
mieh and West Bekaa projects star-
ted and also the LRA five-year plan
was submitted to Mr. Nabih Berri the
Speaker of the Parliament who re-
quested from the Gulf countries du-
ring an official visit the complemen-
tary financing of the South Lebanon
irrigation projects.
CONCLUSIONThe study of the water resources in
Lebanon shows clearly that this
country is blessed with an annual
precipitation volume of about 8 billion
m3/ year but several disadvantages
render the utilization of this water
quantity a very complicated task to be
accomplished. These parameters are
the following:
�90 % of the rainfall quantity occurs
with a period of three months.
�Evapotranspiration rate is evalua-
ted to be 50% and this volume will
tend to increase with the climate
change phenomenon.
�Geological Karstic nature of the
Lebanese soil induces a high infil-
tration ratio.
�Relying on groundwater utilization
as a major source of water supply
for the Lebanese population
constitutes a bad design for the
water planning and management
in Lebanon. This concept leads to
an over pumping of the aquifers
generating environmental pro-
blem as:
- Seawater intrusion in the costal
zone aquifer.
- High level drops of the water table in
the Bekaa valley.
- High financial consequences rela-
ted to the electricity bill to be paid by
the water establishment due to the
water pumping.
�Absence of waste water treatment
plant makes difficult the utilization
of non conventional resources for
agriculture and municipal sectors.
Also this resource could be used
for the artificial recharge of aqui-
fers in addition to the high pres-
sure induced on the ecosystems of
the watercourses.
�Absence of surface water storage
since the 1960 led to a continuous
discharge of fresh water in the Me-
diterranean sea amounting to
about 1.2 billion m3/year. This ir-
responsible behavior from the
water administration and the poli-
tical decision makers constitute a
waste of financial input to the na-
tional budget evaluated to be
around 100 billion US dollars. Until
2002 only the Qaraoun dam has
been built on the Litani River.
�Construction of Chabrouh dam
which was completed in October
2007 was the only project executed
of the 10 year strategic master plan
established by the GDHER-MEW.
�27 dams were planned to be execu-
ted in 10 years but unfortunately this
objective was not met and the dams
were not implemented mostly due
to political disturbances.
�Difficulties in the achievement of the
agricultural schemes forecast for
2010-2040 estimated to be 280 000
hectares without the implementa-
tion of the 10 year strategic master
plan. This situation will generate a
negative effect on the food security
of the country and will force the Le-
banese government to continue im-
porting its demands in agricultural
crops. The notion of “virtual water”
which is highly harmful for Lebanon
THE DEVELOPMENTOF HIGH PERFORMANCECOMPACT TECHNOLOGIES FORTHE RESIDUARYWATER TREATMENTSUCH AS BIOLOGICALREACTORS OF FIXEDCULTIVATION OR BIOLOGICAL FILTRATION AREVERY SUITABLE FORTHE COASTAL ZONES
water resources future utilization
will be applied and enforced by the
international community.
�The drinking and irrigation water
networks efficiencies should be
improved in order to meet IWRM
requirements with respect to the
water losses and for a better ser-
vice coverage.
�Other non conventional resources
for the future utilization such as:
sea fresh water spring, desalina-
tion and reuse of wastewater re-
quire a new complementary for-
mulation within the 10 year master
plan bearing in mind that the re-
sources utilizations by gravity
should be used at first priority.
�Climate change effect on Lebanon
tends to let the Lebanese territory
to be progressively drier. The first
obvious measure to be taken by the
Lebanese Government is to reduce
the amounts of water discharging
into the sea. Unfortunately due to
the political complication. The ap-
plicability of this solution seems to
be difficult.
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
THE ENERGYREPORT
The result is the most ambi-
tious, science-based exami-
nation yet of a renewable and
clean energy future on a global
scale. It covers all energy needs and
the challenge of providing reliable
and safe energy to all. Importantly, it
uses deliberately conservative as-
sumptions: fossil fuel price in-
creases of no more than two per cent
annually, deployment of technolo-
gies available today and continuous
but not disruptive renewable energy
expansion. It is an ambitious but
achievable vision that outlines the
key changes required to achieve a
fully clean energy future and avoid
catastrophic climate change.
WHY AN ENERGY REPORT?The current fossil fuel energy para-
digm is not sustainable. A “business-
as-usual” approach to our energy fu-
ture will mean substantially higher
and more volatile energy costs, dri-
ven by increasing scarcity and fossil
fuel supplies from more physically
and politically challenging areas.
Energy security would continue to be
challenged by disruptions of supply,
accidents and disputes over energy
resources.
Moreover, 1.4 billion people have no
access to reliable electricity. Some
2.7 billion depend on traditional fuels
such as wood, charcoal or manure
for cooking and heating – often har-
vested in ways highly damaging to the
environment and used in ways highly
damaging to health.
Most seriously, fossil fuel use is by far
the most serious single contributor to
climate change, accounting for about
two thirds of all greenhouse gas
emissions. “Business-as-usual” sce-
narios are for both absolute emis-
sions and the energy share of emis-
sions to increase, adding to the cost
and incidence of already occurring
climate change impacts and offering
no chance for the world to stay below
unacceptable risk levels for runaway
climate change.
A fully sustainable renewable power
supply is the only way we can secure
energy for all and avoid environmen-
tal catastrophe.
IS A 100 PERCENT RENEWABLEENERGY SUPPLY POSSIBLEGLOBALLY BY 2050?The Ecofys scenario, contained wi-
thin The Energy Report, concludes
that it is technically feasible to sup-
ply everyone on Earth with the
energy they need by 2050, with 95
percent of this energy coming from
renewable sources utilizing techno-
logies current or in development
today. In its report, WWF indicates
how its vision of a 100 percent rene-
wable and sustainable energy supply
could be realized.
THE ECOFYS SCENARIOIn 2050, ambitious energy saving
measures result in total energy de-
78
The Energy Report is a WWF collaborationwith energy consultancy Ecofys that explorespowering the world entirely by renewable ener-gy by the middle of this century.
79
need minimal energy for heating
and cooling and there is a shift to
more efficient means of transport.
As far as possible electrical energy
is used instead of solid or liquid
fuels. Wind, solar, geothermal and
hydropower are the main sources of
electricity, with solar and geother-
mal sources, as well as heat pumps
providing a large share of heat for
buildings and industry. “Smart”
electricity grids store and deliver
energy more efficiently.
Bioenergy (liquid biofuels and solid
mand being 15 percent lower than in
2005 – despite population, industrial
output, passenger travel and freight
transport rising as projected.
Industry uses more recycled and
energy efficient materials, buildings
are constructed or upgraded to �
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�
Energy
biomass) is used as a last resort
where other renewable energy
sources are not viable – for aircraft,
ships and truck haulage and indus-
trial processes requiring very high
temperatures.
World energy supply by source under
the Ecofys scenario
WHAT IS THE INVESTMENTNEEDED AND WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC BENEFIT?By 2050, we save nearly €4 trillion
($US 5.4 trillion) annually through
energy efficiency and reduced fuel
costs over a “business-as-usual”
scenario. However, big increases in
capital expenditure are needed first
– to install renewable energy gene-
rating capacity on a massive scale,
modernize electricity grids, trans-
form goods and public transport
and improve the energy efficiency of
existing buildings. These will grow
over the next 25 years from about €1
trillion to about €3.5 trillion a year
($US 1.4-4.7 trillion). Our invest-
ments begin to pay off around 2040,
when the savings start to outweigh
the costs. If oil prices rise faster
than predicted and we factor in the
costs of climate change and the im-
pact of fossil and traditional fuels on
public health, the payoff occurs
much earlier.
ARE THERE ENOUGH RENEWABLE ENERGYSOURCES TO MEET THE ENERGY NEEDS OF ALL?Currently, more than 80 percent of
our global energy comes from fossil
fuels. Under the Ecofys scenario,
fossil fuels, nuclear power and tra-
ditional biomass are almost entirely
phased out by 2050. Realistically,
can a more varied mix of renewable
fuels make up the shortfall?
Taking into account factors such as
overall potential, current growth
rates, and appropriate selected sus-
tainability constraints, the Ecofys
scenario builds up a picture of the
“realizable potential” of available re-
newable energy resources. In most
cases, the realizable potential
greatly exceeds the projected 2050
energy demands on the resource –
by many orders of magnitude in the
case of all uses of solar power;
more than double in the case of
offshore wind, wave and tidal power,
high temperature and geo-ther-
mally generated electricity; and
substantially in the case of onshore
wind and low temperature geother-
mal energy.
The exception is hydropower, where
realizable potential is constrained
by concerns over the environmental
and human costs of large dams and
thus the 2050 contribution of hydro-
power is close to its realizable po-
tential. To limit impacts on food sup-
plies and biodiversity, bio-energy
production is constrained.
Efficiency and electrification – two
key pathways of The Energy Report
The Ecofys scenario of 15 percent
lower global energy demand by 2050
is in marked contrast to “business-
as-usual” projections similar popu-
lation and economic activity as-
sumptions, which predict a doubling
in energy demand. Energy conser-
vation is the most important ele-
ment in achieving a sustainable, re-
newable energy future – but in every
sector, solutions already exist that
can deliver the massive energy sa-
vings required. The challenge is rol-
ling them out on a global scale as
soon as possible.
Buildings are major users of energy,
yet these can be made virtually
energy neutral (or even energy posi-
tive) with current technologies.
Heating needs can be reduced by at
least 60 percent by insulating walls,
roofs and ground floors; replacing
old windows; and installing ventila-
tion systems that recover heat.
Local solar thermal systems, low
temperature geothermal heat, and
heat pumps and other efficient
technologies would fulfill the remai-
ning heating and hot water needs.
New buildings need to be regulated
to meet these high efficiency stan-
dards as soon as possible. For all
buildings to meet these standards
by 2050, 2-3 per cent of existing floor
area would need to be retrofitted
every year.
This is ambitious but achievable:
Germany has already reached an-
nual retrofit rates in this range.
The Ecofys scenario for a renewable
energy future depends upon using
electrical power from clean, rene-
wable sources in place of fossil fuels
and nuclear wherever possible. This
would bring electricity from less
than one fifth of total final energy
demand to almost half.
Moving from fossil fuels to renewa-
ble electricity presents challenges.
The first priority should be to up-
grade current electricity grids to mix
and distribute more and more varia-
ble sources of electrical energy. Ef-
ficient international networks will
also help balance variable renewa-
ble sources from different regions.
Within Europe, for example, wind
and ocean power from the North
Sea area could complement Alpine
hydropower and solar power from
the Mediterranean and even North
Africa.
Smart grids will help transmission
operators, power companies, busi-
nesses and consumers manage
load and demand with supply. Ex-
cess power would be used to top-up
storage (notably in car batteries)
and to generate hydrogen fuel. Elec-
trification would also make major
inroads into transport.
A FULLY SUSTAINABLERENEWABLE POWERSUPPLY IS THE ONLYWAY WE CAN SECUREENERGY FOR ALL AND AVOID ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE
�
82
WHY IS BIO-ENERGY HEDGEDWITH SAFEGUARDS?The use of biomass fuels is recogni-
zed as among the most contentious
issues raised by The Energy Report,
but there are some transport and in-
dustrial needs that under current and
feasible technologies are unlikely to
be met without liquid and solid fuels.
Biomass is the only renewable op-
tion. Part of this demand can be met
from waste products, but, under the
Ecofys scenario, it would still be ne-
cessary to grow sustainable biofuel
crops and take more wood from well-
managed forests to meet demand.
Careful land use planning and effec-
tive international cooperation and re-
gulatory arrangements will be nee-
ded to ensure that energy demands
are met without threatening food or
water supplies, or threatening biodi-
versity through direct or indirect in-
centives for land clearing. Bioenergy
from algae is likely to ease some land
use pressures as 2050 approaches.
BRINGING ENERGY TO EVERYONEA sustainable energy future must be a
fair one, in which the equal right of
every person to benefit from the
world’s energy resources is recogni-
zed. Around one fifth of humanity lacks
access to reliable electricity and two
fifths are in need of clean cooking and
heating fuels and technologies. Rene-
wable and efficiency based solutions
are generally already available, exten-
ding from large scale renewable power
generation (solar power in Africa, geo-
thermal in Indonesia) through to com-
munity level power installations based
on solar, wind turbines, micro-hydro or
biogas; and down to solar, biogas or
fuel efficient cooking stoves.
WILL MOVING TO A RENEWABLE ENERGY FUTUREAFFECT LIFESTYLES?The Ecofys scenario shows that we can
supply almost all of our energy needs
from renewable sources by 2050 while
maintaining rates of economic growth
and leading prosperous, healthy life-
styles. Indeed, quality of life for many
will improve immeasurably with ac-
cess to electricity and clean energy.
We will, however, need to make wiser
choices about the way we use energy.
Some lifestyle changes will allow us
to reach a renewable energy future
while reducing our impact on the pla-
net. Key will be growing enough food
to nourish a growing global popula-
tion and limiting bio-energy demand
from pushing our forests, agricultu-
ral land and freshwater ecosystems
to the limit. To achieve such a ba-
lance, the Ecofys scenario assumes
meat consumption is more equitable,
and growth in overall meat consump-
tion is limited. This would mean a
halving of meat consumption per
person by 2050 in OECD countries
and an increase by a quarter elsew-
here – with significant dietary bene-
fits for all. Food wastage and food
transport would also be reduced.
Personal mobility will also rise by
2050, with the overall distances people
travel increasing by half in OECD
countries and trebling in the rest of the
world. The Ecofys scenario suggests
we can manage those increases by
moving towards more efficient forms
of transport, walking and cycling over
short distances, and making more use
of public transport including replacing
a proportion of plane travel with train
travel – and making use of improved
communications technology to make
some travel unnecessary. Cuts
beyond the Ecofys projections, parti-
cularly in air travel, would substan-
tially reduce the needs for biofuels.
Making lifestyle changes will take
time, but history shows that people
will change their behaviors when they
understand the benefits, and when
policies steer them in the right direc-
tion. Recycling is now second nature
in many countries, while smoking
rates have fallen with growing know-
ledge of the health risks. A better un-
derstanding of the impacts of our
own choices will help us move toward
a fair and fully renewable future.
GETTING FROM HERE TO THEREAlthough public investment will be
important, business, community and
even individual investment will play a
key role. Financial incentives for re-
newable energy, such as feed-in ta-
riffs, are a key means of creating a
more favorable climate for renewable
energy, guaranteeing payments to
households, businesses, communi-
ties and other organizations genera-
ting their own electricity. Feed-in ta-
riffs are now available in more than
50 countries, including parts of
China, India and the US.
WHAT NOW?Achieving a sustainable renewable
energy future will take determined
action at the international, national,
community and individual levels –
and the sooner such action is taken
the earlier the benefits will be reali-
zed. At the international level, the
clearest priorities are strong interna-
tional agreement on climate change
action, including viable levels of as-
sistance to help developing countries
to a sustainable energy future. Regio-
nal, national and local governments
need to cut perverse subsidies and
commit to targets and pathways to
energy efficiency and renewable
power. Business needs to begin follo-
wing some of their own leaders into a
green economy future. And indivi-
duals need to consider the implica-
tions of their energy use and lend
their support to moving to a sustaina-
ble rather than an anxious and threa-
tened future.
� BUILDINGS ARE MAJOR USERS OF ENERGY,YET THESE CAN BE MADE VIRTUALLYENERGY NEUTRAL OR EVEN ENERGYPOSITIVE WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
Projects of Residences Within Nature Overlooking The Horizon
85
�
Architect Youssef TohmeOUT OF NATURE COMES THE NEW GENERATION OF ECO-FRIENDLY DESIGNS
It all takes personal initiative. Key
people with personal initiatives
create super impacts that affect us
for generations to come. Youssef Tohme
is such a person. An architect who has
made it his mission to not replace na-
ture with inhabitable structures, but
instead to make nature an integral part
of these structures. He designs breath-
taking structures with as minimal waste
to nature as possible. A true ecologist at
heart and mind.
A modest person by nature, Tohme has
been a practicing architect for the better
part of his adult life. He refined his skill at
occupying empty spaces with the most
creative structures not only in relation to
its surrounding, but also in the living
space within the structure itself whether
it is a home or an academic institution.
No compromise is made for the functio-
nality of the space vis-à-vis its eco-
friendly connotation.
Combining architecture with nature
into a blend of connection, Youssef
Tohme is able to create designs that
boldly defy the traditionally accepted
norms. “I make designs that both re-
sembles its inhabitants while at the
same time are an integral part of the
surrounding nature,” Tohme states.
When designing a home, he takes into
account the character of the people he
is creating a home for, as well as the
landscape and nature upon which the
structure will be constructed. He be-
lieves in respect between man and na-
ture as the basis of dialogue to preserve
Sustainable Development
By Hala HABIB
Top Left:Gemmayze Project
Top Right & Bottom Photos:USJ Project
87
the environment for mans survival. In his
quest to change the mainstream archi-
tecture conceptions both locally and in-
ternationally, Tohme strives to make
each structure a landmark in its sur-
rounding hill or mountainside location.
Tohme has thus far designed 17 villas
that are under construction, and an addi-
tional section to the USJ university (Uni-
versité Saint-Joseph) in the past three
years that he has been in Lebanon. Be-
fore that, Tohme studied and practiced
architecture in Paris for almost 20 years.
The main and most basic theme that
Tohme works on is the horizon in duality
with void and landscape, but also kee-
ping the individual aspect to each design.
Tohme believes that the recent history
and psychology of the Lebanese people
plays a role in their quest for an open
space to the horizon. Every Lebanese
person has a dream to own a house with
a view to the sea on the horizon and a bit
of mountainside and skyline. And Leba-
non’s geography is shaped in such a way
that it is elongated and exposed on one
side to the Mediterranean seaside along
its western coastline.
One of the most complex yet challenging
projects Tohme is working on is the USJ
extension building. The challenge comes
from the fact that he was commissioned
with creating an extension building wi-
thin a very limited space which is restric-
ted by established buildings of the uni-
versity. Not only had he the challenge of
designing and constructing a building,
but he had to take into account the sur-
rounding buildings and the spirit of the
whole project. This project was created in
collaboration with “109 Architectes” to
construct an artisanal design occupying
a space of 60,000 msq in the heart of the
USJ campus in Beirut.
When entering this huge structure, one
feels like being in the presence of a
Greek assembly where students and
people of different backgrounds and
thinking meet together.
The contemporary architectural mains-
tream that Youssef Tohme is leading the
way in Lebanon, is clearly influencing the
thinking of people when it comes to their
need for a home in the city. A city like Bei-
rut is dotted with concrete buildings with
little shape and no thought for ecological
�
�
Sustainable Development
Top, Center & Bottom Left:GBA - Project; Villa in ProgressLocation: Lebanon, KaakourType: Residential Project Total Area: 2.500 sqm
Top Right:HAC - Project; Competition House of Art & Culture Location: Lebanon, Beirut Central DistrictType: Institutional Project Total Area: 40.000 sqm
89
well-being of the city. Tohme has defied
this mainstream and convinced people
that it is possible to own a villa in the
heart of the city and enjoy the horizon
with a vast garden as is the case of the
building he is constructing in the Gem-
mayze area in Achrafieh, Beirut. Each
apartment is 220 msq with a height of
4.2m, including a garden of 100 msq.
This gives the occupant a feel of living in
a villa in the heart of the city. It is a villa
with nature in Achrafieh. Tohme is glad
that people have started changing their
minds and accepting eco-friendly homes
with solar-powered heating, which might
be costlier at first but is money-saving in
the long run.
An example of Tohme’s villa within nature
is the GBA-Project, a villa in progress oc-
cupying a space of 2,500 square meters in
the mountainous Kaakour area. It’s a ho-
rizontally open space from the front side
which looks like concrete slabs protru-
ding from the landscape. The interior of
the GBA project is made of a large open
space with a clear view of the horizon.
A project that Tohme has design but will
not implement is the HAC Project which
is made up of two towers caught in a
dance in time. This was a project he sub-
mitted for the House of Art & Culture
Competition and comprises a space of
40,000 sqm. It is a unique design that re-
flects the culture of Lebanon according
to Tohme. He conceived it as a dance bet-
ween two cultures, which reflect the cur-
rent situation in Lebanon. The two buil-
dings although not connected, are very
closely located to each other and are
made of a fragile outer layer depicting
the continuous fragile situation reflecting
the daily lives of people in this country.
Reflecting on the future, Tohme feels
that the way forward is in the new
contemporary designs that are eco-
friendly since the mentality of the people
are changing and becoming more envi-
ronmental-conscious.
It is architects like Youssef Tohme that
will one day be regarded as the men who
courageously led the way towards chan-
ging the face of architecture in Lebanon
to the contemporary movement that is
bringing back people to nature.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
www.yousseftohme.com
�
YOUSSEFTOHMEBorn in 1969, YoussefTohme graduated fromthe French universityof architecture “l’Ecoled’Architecture Paris-Villemin” where hetaught theory and rep-resentation classes in2004.In 2001-2002, heworked as a chief archi-tect on the redesignstudy of the “Gared’Austerlitz” at AREP.A year later he becamean assistant chief archi-tect at Atelier Jean
Nouvel Paris on the project Landmark in Beyrouth.In 2004 he became achief architect on the Louvre Abou Dhabi Museum for the preliminaryphase. In the same time, he worked in Lebanon in collaboration with “109architectes” on the project “Campus de l‘innovation, de l’économie et dusport à Beyrouth (USJ)” which is currently under construction. In January2008 he opens his own office in Lebanon with an offshore in Paris. Witha team of young Lebanese and international architects, he tries to translatethe deep theoretical & technical research in his projects holding a power-ful urban agenda (A-Project-Romania) or on more specific projects (S-Pro-ject-T-project & M-Project- Lebanon AD-Project France ect…).Major reflexions on society, territories and writing interest him: He ques-tions our relationship with the world, reinterprets it, appropriates it andthen adapts it …
Sustainable Development
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
Ahmed Baghoum, Associate Director of City Operations, Masdar City, talks about
THE FIRST ECO-FRIENDLYCITY IN MENA
By Cathy CHAMI TYAN
Aerial view of Masdar City
At the European Future Energy
Forum that was held for the
first time in London in October
2010, Ahmed Baghoum, Associate
Director of City Operations - Masdar
City, shared with World Environment
Magazine his views of the critical role
of sustainable cities in our society’s
future development. His experience
in facilitating the advancement of
Masdar City lends plenty of unique in-
sights and perspectives.
Cathy C. Tyan: What is Masdar and
how did it start?
Ahmed Baghoum: Masdar is a holistic
approach to clean technologies. It
aims at developing a full spectrum of
green technologies and green ener-
gies. It is an integration of develop-
ment and innovation with sustainable
production and the export of know-
ledge. It includes Masdar Power,
Masdar City, the Masdar Institute of
Science and Technology and Masdar
Capital. Today, it is well rooted in Abu
Dhabi's vision.
It all started with the vision of the late
Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, the founder
of the UAE, and has continued with his
sons who want to materialize the great
ideas and the vision of their late father.
Though Masdar is not the first eco-
city in the world, it is the first of its
kind in the MENA region and it is the
first holistic approach to green
energy and green technologies. We
can safely say that the first phase of
the project is almost complete.
In your opinion, what will be the eco-
nomical, social and environmental
impact of sustainable cities on the
lives of ordinary people?
In terms of lifestyle, social, environ-
mental and economic aspects of the
particularity of Masdar is the fact that
it is a mix-use city. A city where you
can work, live and enjoy a high quality
of life with the lowest environmental
footprint at the same time. When the
idea of Masdar was launched we
went back to old Arab cities and got
inspired by the old architecture of
these cities. Peoples' lives will im-
prove because they will be reducing
their environmental impact and they
will be living in a less polluted envi-
ronment. At Masdar City we will be
able to achieve great results such as
50% reduction in water and energy
consumption and waste.
The partnerships developed by Mas-
dar with governments and the private
sector have a high economic impact.
Our goal is to seek the development of
new technologies making it interes-
ting for other companies to base their
offices and headquarters in Masdar.
According to specialists, COP16 is
going to be another failure. Big
players are not ready to find an
agreement to reduce CO2 emis-
sions. Do you think that big oil
companies are ready to accept and
support the development of sustai-
nable cities?
Big oil companies are already accep-
ting the changes in the consumption
of energy. They have all developed a
division in green technologies and
work to develop clean fossil fuels by
encouraging new emerging techno-
logies. We need to give them the
credit for becoming more socially
responsible.
Sustainable DevelopmentSustainable Development
93
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phot
os: M
asda
r
94
On what will the future of sustaina-
ble urban development depend?
It will depend mostly on the readiness
of technologies to help build environ-
ment-friendly cities or eco-cities but
also in socially viable terms. One of
our challenges when the idea of Mas-
dar emerged was the inexistent tech-
nologies such as hybrid cars. Today,
all big car manufacturers are develo-
ping such cars. It will also depend on
the readiness of governments and le-
gislation and policies.
Don’t you think that the world has
other priorities to solve such as hun-
ger and life threatening diseases be-
fore thinking of developing sustaina-
ble cities?
Definitely yes, we need to change the
way we live. Governments need to
commit to change. According to
scientists, if we continue to live the
way we are living today, we will need
the equivalent of five planets to sus-
tain us. The world needs to commit
and is slowly changing. These new ci-
ties will definitely help in the aspect of
disease control and poverty by redu-
cing pollution and CO2 emissions.
Do you think that big cities such as
Cairo, Mexico City, Mumbai can one
day become sustainable cities? If
not, what will be the solution to im-
prove life in these mega poles?
We believe the name of the game
for big cities to change this aspect
is through the wide spectrum of
green technologies and through
energy efficiency.
Many countries today are facing
major environmental problems in
their cities but have empty and
desert lands, do you think that de-
veloping new sustainable cities in
these places such as Masdar are
the solution?
New cities developing in remote
areas or outside big cities are part of
the natural growth process of popu-
lation. Countries like Japan, China
and India have developed totally new
eco-cities that are cleaner, energy ef-
ficient and living on clean fossil fuels.
Many people criticize the livability of
such cities. In your opinion, will Mas-
dar be a success story that will
change these ideas?
At Masdar we want a city that is liva-
ble with a high quality of life with the
lowest environmental foot print.
That's why every aspect of the city has
been studied and detailed such as the
planning of the city. It will not be pu-
rely residential or purely commercial
but it will be a mixed community with
leisure time as well.
At what stage of development is the
whole project?
Phase One of the city will be ready by
2015. We invite companies to come
and establish their headquarters and
to deploy their technologies. Masdar
will become the showcase for the
whole region with regards to all green
technologies. The city will be inhabi-
ted by 40,000 people in addition to
that, it will receive 50,000 business
commuters. Phase One is of one mil-
lion square meters with IRENA and
the Masdar Institute of Science and
Technology. The full city will be ready
by 2025 and is very well located bet-
ween the busy district of Abu Dhabi
and Dubai. Masdar City, along the
new developments nearby, will be the
new ‘downtown’ of Abu Dhabi.
�
THE PARTICULARITYOF MASDARIS THEFACT THAT IT IS AMIX-USECITY. A CITYWHERE YOUCAN WORK, LIVEAND ENJOY A HIGHQUALITY OF LIFEWITH THE LOWESTENVIRONMENTALFOOTPRINTAT THE SAME TIME
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
By Amy SIMPhotos By Mimo KHAIR
CHINA: PROGRESS IN ENVIRONMENTALINFORMATION DISCLOSURE BUT POLLUTION DATA STILL WITHHELD
Eco-Living
online mechanisms to facilitate access to environmental
information and the submission of information requests
by the public.
The report entitled Access to Environmental Information
in China: Evaluation of Local Compliance was launched in
December 2010. It was written by Sim Kok Eng Amy from
ARTICLE 19 and Hu Jing from the Center for Legal Assis-
tance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) at the China University
Areport published by ARTICLE 19 and the Centre for
Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) at
the China University of Political Science and Law,
found progress in access to government-held environ-
mental information in China. A significant amount of en-
vironmental information has been disclosed by the local
environmental protection bureaus (EPB) both proactively
and upon requests. In some cities, local EPBs have set up
Eco-Living
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100
of Political Science and Law. The report outlines the find-
ings of the first evaluation on access to environmental in-
formation in seven cities across China.
Despite the improvement in access to environmental in-
formation, there is still a wide gap between existing prac-
tices and the legal requirements under China’s Open Gov-
ernment Information Regulations and Measures on Open
Environmental Information (for Trial Implementation). In
particular, information relating to pollutant emissions,
waste disposal and list of illegally polluting enterprises is
the hardest to obtain. In addition, disclosure of environ-
mental information by large enterprises is very limited,
which is likely due to the lack of legal requirements on en-
terprises to publish information.
One of the main objectives of the study is to empower local
communities to exercise their right to information (RTI) to
monitor pollution and accountability of local environ-
mental authorities. Grassroots environmental organiza-
tions across China were trained in access to environmen-
tal information. Among them, seven were selected to
carry out the evaluation by submitting information re-
quests to their EPBs and examining published environ-
ment information on the websites and other communi-
cation channels of local environmental agencies and
large enterprises. This activity has enhanced their ability
to exercise their right to information.
“Through participating in this survey, we see that there is
much improvement in EPB’s work on environmental in-
formation disclosure. However, there is still room for im-
provement,” says Liu Hong Ming, a member of Friends of
Nature Shanghai who participated in the survey, “As a
civil society organization, we need to step up our work on
�
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ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCIESMAY HAVE BEEN UNWILLINGTORELEASEINFORMATION ON POLLUTANT EMISSIONSFOR FEAROF AFFECTING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTOR GENERATING NEGATIVE PRESS. BUT SUCH AN APPROACH IS UNSUSTAINABLE. THEFREEFLOW OF INFORMATIONISKEY TO THE MONITORINGOFRESPONSIBLE ENVIRONMENTALBEHAVIOURSAND FOR THE EXECUTION OF TIMELYRESPONSES TO SERIOUS INDUSTRIAL IMPACTS TOTHE ENVIRONMENT
THROUGH PARTICIPATING IN THIS SURVEY, WE SEE THAT THERE IS MUCH IMPROVEMENTIN EPB’S WORK ON ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION DISCLOSURE. HOWEVER, THERE ISSTILL ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
103
information disclosure, and build our own capacities and
skills in making information request.”
In the report, ARTICLE 19 and CLAPV provide a set of rec-
ommendations to the Chinese environmental agencies
and civil society organizations, to strengthen govern-
ment’s mechanism and capacity for environmental infor-
mation disclosure, establish standards on information
disclosure by enterprises, and enhance collaboration
among civil society organisations on promoting greater
access to environmental information.
BACKGROUNDAt the end of 2005, the State Council of the People’s Re-
public of China adopted the “Decision on Implementing
the Scientific Concept of Development and Strengthen-
ing Environmental Protection”. Under the measures to
develop mechanisms for fostering community monitor-
ing, it was stated that information on environmental pol-
lution incidents should be released timely in order to
provide opportunities for public participation. It also un-
derscored that enterprises should be open about envi-
ronmental information.
In 2007, the State Council and the State Environmental
Protection Administration (SEPA) adopted the Regula-
tions on Open Government Information (“the OGI Regula-
tions”) and the Measures for Open Environmental Infor-
mation (for Trial Implementation) (“the OEI Measures”)
respectively. Both legal documents were made effective
on May 1, 2008.
To support the implementation of these two legal docu-
ments, raise awareness among citizens on their right to
access information, and increase public participation and
� transparency in environmental governance, ARTICLE 19
and the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims at
the China University of Political Science and Law (CLAPV,
also known as the Research and Service Center for Envi-
ronmental and Natural Resources Law) implemented the
Access to Environmental Information project in 2010.
THE PROJECT CONSISTS OF FOUR MAIN ACTIVITIES �Training on access to environmental information for en-
vironmental officers and representatives of civil society
organizations;
�Mobilising local civil society organisations to conduct an
evaluation on environmental information disclosure;
�Workshop on access to environmental information;
�Publication of a book on access to environmental infor-
mation in China and abroad.
The training course was held in Beijing on May 7 and 8,
2010. More than 40 environmental officers and civil socie-
ty organizations representatives from across China at-
tended. The evaluation on environmental information dis-
closure was carried out from mid-July to mid-October,
2010, and the findings were shared at the workshop held
on the November 21 in Beijing. The book on access to en-
vironmental information in China and abroad is slated for
publication in 2011.
TO ACCESS THE REPORT VISIT
www.article19.org/pdfs/reports/access-to-
environmental-information-in-china-evaluation-of-
local-compliance-.pdf
WE NEED TO STEP UP OUR WORK ON INFORMATION DISCLOSURE,ANDBUILDOUR OWN CAPACITIES AND SKILLS IN MAKING INFORMATION REQUEST
Eco-Living
By Piercarlo CRACHI
Restoring the Museum of Libya,
formerly known as the Palace
of the People, is based on the
principle of philological restoration,
which is actualy in compliance with
the existing trees and/or with the
reintegration of their missing parts by
maintaining the original design.
The project draws its inspiration from
an existing site plan still clearly visible
today, which reflects the original plan
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
drawn-up by Public Works of Tripoli
between the years 1926-1931.
The original structure was conceived
by an Italian engineer from Milan,
Saul Wonder Mantegazza who was
commissioned to design the resi-
dence and representative office of the
Governor of Italian Libya. He conjured
up a magnificent architecture which
is currently restored and dedicated to
house the Museum of Libya.
The floor plan of the garden covers a
dense network of pedestrian and car
ways that comprise several stairs and
retaining walls to resolve the diffe-
rences in altitude. The garden covers
about four hectares distributed in an
original way with the creation of the
garden on the western side typically
Western, an Italian garden in the cen-
tral raised part and the Islamic gar-
den in the eastern part.
THE MUSEUM OF LIBYAA RESTORATION PROJECT OF THE GARDEN OF TRIPOLI’S FORMER PALACE OF THE PEOPLE
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South side pools project
East side actual view East side project
South side pools actual view
Project by : Studio Crachi-Roma, Italywww.studiocrachi.com
Ordered by: The Libyan Government
106
On the right side coming from the
north and heading towards the wes-
tern part was the riding stables,
which no longer exists. The project
has been redesigned with the same
shape and is intended as parking
space for the public with a row of cy-
press trees placed in the center, on
the same side is previewed for the
restoration of the adjacent kiosk in
the middle of the road in a horseshoe
shape, now mostly rock garden.
On the west side is the rose garden
with concentric circular steps for
containment of plants with fountain
jets in the middle shelf. The dense
network of irregular English style
avenues that intersect on this side
delimiting numerous flower beds and
garden shows the typical Western
style garden.
The central Italian garden has been
restored preserving the lattice of iron
arches exedra destined to receive the
plants. The five fountains, which re-
semble eighteenth century plants,
are restored along with the play of
water to gush. New classical sculp-
tures in Carrara marble under the
arches and around the pools were
new additions to the original site.
The Islamic garden to the east is cha-
racterized by a series of fountains
and a large arbor 133 meters long
with square pilasters covered with
polychrome tiles. The arbor, which no
longer exists, has been restored and
is dedicated to the rose garden.
The fountains at the top of the cen-
tral square of the pergola, reminds
us of the Arabic well profile, while
the floor tiles are a reminiscence of
the pattern of oriental rugs. The ori-
ginal objective of the architect was
to create different emotions through
the narrow streets that intersect
with each other, always creating
new backgrounds and new perspec-
tives. In the east part towards the
south part, special care has been
taken to maintain the original des-
ign by creating a maze of green
bamboo garden and a double bay
with sculptures inspired by the ara-
besque zoomorphism.
The integration of new native plants
and trees require the creation of new
green beds created along the ave-
nues and adorned with thirty new
stone sculptures of African animals
(turtles, elephants, lions, sphinxes,
eagles, crocodiles ...).
The great avenue of existing gray as-
phalt becomes red, more suitable for
a park road.
The walkways will be paved with
local stone or gravel. The curbs of
concrete painted white board, exis-
ting in the flower beds, will be repla-
ced with marble.
The existing concrete benches were
replaced with stone ones designed
exclusively for this park. The lighting
system has been redesigned and
will be of two types: the rehabilita-
tion and integration of the original
cast iron street lamps and the instal-
lation of modern LED lights reces-
sed in the ground for the lighting of
the tree crowns.
A new system spreads the sound in
the open with special equipment for
outdoor use.
The irrigation system has been rede-
signed with the zoning in areas plan-
ned for the water needs of different
types of plants.
�
All palace's gardens plain project
By Erika ROSHDI
108
The issue of corporate respon-
sibility and sustainability is
now widely incorporated into
business strategies, whether it
arises from a fear of public opinion
or a genuine understanding of the
impact effective sustainability initia-
tives can have on business success.
However, whilst some organizations
gladly flout their ‘responsible’ acti-
vities for all to see, recent business
blunders point all too clearly to the
dangers of underlying short-ter-
mism and internal focus.
The competitive arena is changing.
It is no longer a clear-cut case of
profit versus corporate responsibi-
lity and, as governments, the media
and consumers increasingly shift
their focus to sustainability issues,
some businesses are already rea-
ping the competitive benefits of pur-
suing both.
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
BUILDING TRUST AND MINIMIZING RISKOne crucial element of corporate res-
ponsibility is that of stakeholder en-
gagement and consultation, an area,
which is becoming more central to
the sustainability debate. The prac-
tice of involving key stakeholders in
project and product development has
long been recognized as an impor-
tant way to minimize risk and ensure
greater cooperation with, and accep-
tance of, the project.
Stakeholder engagement is vital in
engendering a focus on sustainability
throughout organizational activities.
By involving stakeholders at the deve-
lopment stage, organizations benefit
from a broadened pool of expertise
and knowledge. The decision-making
process will be more complete as a
wider range of perspectives is exami-
ned, helping to clarify and refine in-
tentions. Consulting stakeholders
throughout project lifecycles also in-
creases stakeholder ownership in
the finished product.
Generating stakeholder commit-
ment to projects reduces risk and
builds trust in the organization. Sta-
keholders that are consulted from
the initial planning phases will be
more willing to cooperate with orga-
nizational activities. This trust, in-
dispensible for positive corporate
reputation, is based on a two-way
communication and relationship with
stakeholders and cannot be establi-
shed simply with a successful adver-
tising campaign, or even with a favo-
rable annual report.
Organizations are also facing growing
pressure for transparency and ac-
countability in reporting their activi-
ties. Again, this involves more than
one-way communication from busi-
ONLINE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT: COMBINING SUSTAINABILITYWITH PROFITABILITYStakeholder engagement has, in recent years, started to take its rightfulplace as an important aspect in sustainability for both public and privatesector organizations. As the demand for organizational transparencyand accountability builds, businesses that have not yet deployed two-waystakeholder communication strategies will find themselves lagging behind their more perceptive competitors. This article explores thecompetitive advantages to be gained by the online engagement of keystakeholders from the initial planning phases of project development.
109
Eco-Living
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nesses to stakeholders. An intros-
pective and internal perspective on
operations does not, unfortunately,
paint a complete picture of organiza-
tional activities and their impact on
local communities, businesses, envi-
ronment, suppliers, customers and
local government.
Stakeholder engagement that takes
place continuously, from making
operational decisions to the transpa-
rent reporting of organizational acti-
vities, has huge implications for busi-
ness success. Organizations that
weave ongoing stakeholder commu-
nication into their business strategies
place best practice at the centre of
their business, shaping all aspects of
the organization.
A CHANGING LANDSCAPEUntil recently, stakeholder engage-
ment has taken place primarily
through offline methods such as
face-to-face meetings, round-table
discussions and focus group consul-
tations at specific points in project
development, often on an ad-hoc
basis. This type of two-way dialogue
has been, and continues to be, es-
sential at various stages of the pro-
ject lifecycle in allowing organizations
to gather important feedback that
may well redefine the nature of the
project itself.
Whilst offline engagement has been
largely effective in gathering vital
input from stakeholders, the com-
munication landscape has under-
gone significant changes in recent
years. The Internet has changed the
way people communicate, from infor-
mation gathering and delivery to the
building of social networks where re-
lationships are actively cultivated. It is
no longer justifiable, or indeed useful,
merely to produce and maintain one-
way ommunication channels with
stakeholders.
However, given the online communi-
cation tools now widely available to
Multi-stakeholder dialogue: the development of online communication tools have paved the way for effective two-way multi-stakeholder engagement.IMS Consulting has observed that the public sector in particular has been an early mover in exploiting the opportunities available in this area.
BY INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS ATTHE DEVELOPMENTSTAGE, ORGANIZATIONSBENEFIT FROM ABROADENED POOLOF EXPERTISE ANDKNOWLEDGE
110
businesses, many are failing to take
advantage of the opportunity to
build dynamic relationships with
stakeholders through ongoing, two-
way dialogue.
TAKING STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ONLINEOffline stakeholder engagement, al-
though important, is only possible
through the physical presence of the
parties involved. Given the some-
times unavoidable obstacles of time
and distance, it is not always possi-
ble to gather all those necessary for
consultation on a particular occa-
sion. Some parties may be unable or
unwilling to travel. Some may prefer
to remain anonymous, especially
where issues of contention are
concerned. One of the benefits of
the web, however, is its accessibility
to a wide audience anywhere, at any
time, making online stakeholder
engagement a far more convenient
option for most. Avoiding the limits
of pre-arranged face-to-face mee-
tings, parties can communicate at a
time and place that is suitable for
them. This can increase the level of
participation from stakeholders, wi-
dening the field of input and helping
to make the consultation more
meaningful.
Another differentiator between of-
fline and online stakeholder dia-
logue is the capability of the web to
objectively measure and quantify
the data gathered from two-way
communication, allowing busi-
nesses to react in an appropriate
and timely manner to consultation
outcomes. Genuine stakeholder en-
gagement that does more than pay
lip service to gathered opinions
must be implemented in a way that
is easy to evaluate. Online tools
such as stakeholder engagement
hubs, portals and comprehensive
surveys allow organizations to col-
lect and evaluate both quantitative
and qualitative data. This provides
businesses with a more complete
and accurate understanding of sta-
keholder views, resulting in mea-
ningful consultation that can be ef-
fectively addressed.
The UK Green Building Council (UK-
GBC), for example, recently under-
took its first member survey using
the StakeholderTALK Report! online
tool to better understand the issues
of most importance to their mem-
bers through quantifiable feedback.
The comprehensive survey, designed
and deployed by IMS Consulting, re-
ceived an exceptional response rate
of over 50% in two and a half weeks
of being live. Paul King, Chief Execu-
tive, commented: “This is a very en-
couraging result, as the survey was
comprehensive and some of the
questions fairly detailed. The main
benefit of the StakeholderTALK pro-
ject is that the results were quantifia-
ble and they have given us the oppor-
ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THE WEB, HOWEVER,IS ITS ACCESSIBILITY TO A WIDE AUDIENCE ANYWHERE, AT ANY TIME, MAKING ONLINE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT A FAR MORE CONVENIENT OPTION FOR MOST
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111
tunity to shape our future activities
based upon solid feedback from our
stakeholders”.
The web also allows traffic generated
by particular online communication
or output to be measured, allowing
businesses to gather information on
what is important to stakeholders
through their online behavior.
Through interactive newsletters and
news and information channels, bu-
sinesses can have a good indication
of the number of stakeholders that
engaged with particular messages
and updates, allowing them to build
on issues that are of importance and
interest to their stakeholders. This
aspect of online communication
gives organizations direction in their
sustainability strategies, enabling
them to base information provision,
policy developments and communi-
cations on issues significant to sta-
keholders.
Another example of two-way dia-
logue using StakeholderTALK is that
of the Morgan Sindall Group, who
have exploited such opportunities
presented by the web in creating on-
going dialogue through their sustai-
nability micro-site, where their stake-
holders are able to keep up to date
with the Group’s policy develop-
ments, recent projects and sustaina-
bility news. The site also gives the
company an indication of areas of in-
terest to stakeholders, providing a
focus for future activities.
Online communication tools allow
for information to be quickly and ea-
sily updated and adapted according
to specific needs. Stakeholders are
able to search through data in va-
rious formats such as video, speech
and text to find what is relevant to
them in making informed decisions
or responses.
Tools such as online evidence data-
bases have changed the way case
study information is presented to
relevant audiences, providing them
with a range of search criteria and
options with which to locate the
specific case study required. The
accessibility of such data according
to particular requirements makes
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEThe concept of building ongoing dia-
logue with stakeholders is a particu-
larly important benefit of using online
engagement tools over traditional of-
fline consultation. The web allows or-
ganizations to move beyond gathe-
ring static snapshots of opinions and
perspectives at specific points in
time. Online stakeholder engage-
ment tools can be used to establish
dynamic relationships between va-
rious parties involved in the consulta-
tion process, allowing participants to
continuously build on previous com-
munications and discourse. It also
provides organizations with a develo-
ping viewpoint of stakeholder pers-
pectives over project life-spans, hel-
ping to shape decisions that are
made throughout.
The practice of making decisions
and doing business with stakehol-
der engagement at the centre is a
fundamental step forward. As the
political agenda pushes the issue of
sustainability and corporate respon-
sibility further to the top, working
sustainable practices into top-level
strategies will be the key to compe-
titive advantage.
The possibilities offered by the web in
communications leave no room for
static, ad hoc stakeholder consulta-
tion or flat, one-way dialogue from
businesses to stakeholders. The va-
rious tools available online in web-
based engagement toolkits such as
StakeholderTALK provide surveys,
portals, news and information chan-
nels. These offer businesses the op-
portunity to build creative, interactive
and, most importantly, meaningful
long term two-way dialogue with
their stakeholders
(see www.stakeholderTALK.com).
It is no longer a choice between cor-
porate responsibility and profit. Busi-
nesses that choose to recognize the
value that stakeholder input can have
in decision making, minimizing risk
and corporate reputation will find
themselves making significant head-
way in building for the future, not only
for themselves, but also for those im-
pacted by their activities.
Eco-Living
TOOLS SUCH AS ONLINE EVIDENCEDATABASES HAVECHANGED THE WAYCASE STUDY INFORMATION ISPRESENTED TO RELEVANT AUDIENCES
online the most powerful way to tar-
get individual stakeholders with in-
formation that is relevant to them.
Organizations can constantly up-
date stakeholders with develop-
ments and progress over project li-
fecycles, keeping them involved
throughout the process. This is key to
building ongoing two-way dialogue
with stakeholders.
This process of reporting to and up-
dating stakeholders is especially
crucial for those that have already
made strides in implementing sus-
tainability in their organizations, as
the importance of reporting their ef-
forts and progress to stakeholders
is often overlooked.
Skanska, one of the world’s leading
construction groups, has recogni-
zed the significance of keeping sta-
keholders informed about their pro-
gress in sustainability and thus have
utilized such online tools to report
back to relevant audiences.
Its Sustainability Case Studies site
(www.skanska-sustainability-case-
studies.com) is a good example of an
online evidence database, which al-
lows users to categorize case studies
by location and aspects of sustainabi-
lity. This case study search allows
stakeholders to locate exactly what is
of interest to them, providing a more
useful alternative to traditional online
case studies that usually function as
PDF files.
112
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
VALNERINAPARCO NAZIONALE DEI MONTI SIBILLINI
114
THE GOAL IS TO COMMUNICATE THE BEAUTY AND MAGNIFICENCE OF A TERRITORYWITH MOMENTS OF REFLECTION AND IMMERSION INTO THE ENVIRONMENT
The fact that Valnerina and
Monti Sibillini are among the
candidate places to join
UNESCO sites is already a quality
warranty. This would be enough to
invite you to discover this corner of
paradise in the heart of Umbria right
in the central of Italy. If it were not for
that reason there are so many others
to get this place as a highlight of Italy
tourist destination. There are many
outdoor activities you can do throu-
ghout the year. They also learn many
things on the environment, and cul-
ture. Many activities are specifically
designed for teaching purposes.
In particular, the environmental
guides Angelo Grilli offers new and
interesting programs also designa-
ted at schools and youth clubs during
school trips and nature holiday in
summer or winter.
The goal is to communicate the
beauty and magnificence of a terri-
tory with moments of reflection and
immersion into the environment with
safe as exciting activities, leading
each participant as protagonist, sha-
ring with respect for nature lots of
experience, providing a tool that pro-
vides not only creative but also cogni-
tive function and socialization.
All activities (hiking, orienteering,
canoeing, rafting....) Can be played
on a daily basis, or developed in half
a day so he can practice more in a
day activity.
EDUCATIONAL EXCURSIONSThe Valnerina and Sibillini Mountains
with their breathtaking landscapes,
deep valleys, villages and plateaus
are ideal terrain for hiking, organized
together with local guides and set on
the principles of environmental edu-
cation. Analysis of tree diversity, col-
lecting samples, searching for items
for the recognition of the local fauna,
observation of the colors and detec-
tion of sounds of the forest:
These are some of the activities
combined with excursions that
allow a comprehensive study of the
environment.
In addition to the evening debriefing,
the half-day trips can be combined
with a specified resume activity re-
ferring to the treated themes.
Very interesting is the former rail-
road Spoleto-Norcia, a route bet-
ween nature and history, following
the old railway.
Excursion can be combined with the
projection of pictures on the railroad
as it was and the socio-economic
importance of the railway itself.
You can also explore the plans of
Castelluccio di Norcia, beautiful
landscape shaped by nature, reflec-
ting on sheep farming and transhu-
mance, or the Canatra Valley, near
the village of Castelluccio di Norcia,
matching the specific activity linked
to the knowledge of the mount Cos-
cerno and his district.
Marmore waterfall and the Piediluco
lake gave us an opportunity to study
the water cycle, and end the tour in
the valley with a fantastic snack in
Pontuglia with local products in a
special frame made by a working
water mill in 1500 with the invented
by Leonardo Da Vinci.
ORIENTEERINGThe ability to move in nature is an
instinct that could be acquired
through practice.
Since ancient times man has had to
THE VALNERINA ANDSIBILLINI MOUNTAINSWITH THEIR BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPES AREIDEAL TERRAIN FOR HIKING, ORGANIZEDTOGETHER WITH LOCALGUIDES AND SET ON THE PRINCIPLESOF ENVIRONMENTALEDUCATION
learn to navigate, for hunting and
cross territories, watching the flight
of birds the stars the sun and the di-
rection of prevailing winds.
Today this activity is called orientee-
ring, and Scandinavia (and later Italy
as well) has become a sport.
Consist in going through the terri-
tory crossing woods or open areas
equipped with map and compass, al-
timeter and in such case GPS taking
a course through obligate steps, fol-
lowing some reference points such
as an intersection of trails, clean
areas or a small hill.
The activity is conducted by expert
guides in areas properly designed
and carried out in order to achieve
maximum results in total safety
conditions.
CLIMBINGTo learn rudiments of this sport you
need a small rock wall.
Throughout Valnerina layers of li-
mestone are often suitable for this
activity. Walls are already equipped
with extremely safe anchorage cal-
led spit. Safely under the control of a
mountain guide, you will get in
contact with the rock and start to fell
comfortable with this natural ins-
tinct. The length of the climbs starts
from few meters , but still sufficient
to provide excitement and challenge.
ADVENTURE TRAILThe course is structured in a natural
environment. It is involved with a se-
ries of exercises that test skills and
abilities. The purpose is to reach
physical and mental skills due to
take improve speed and problem
solving and strengthen group rela-
tionships.
Learning that natural environment
has to be respected and protected
as a resource for humans.
CANYONINGThe whole area is crossed by many
narrow valleys, gorges and ravines
created by the numerous streams
that flow in the main rivers. Descend
these streams, with expert guides to
the use of technical equipment, will
Eco-Tourism
�
115
116
117
Eco-Tourism
allow participants to discover beauti-
ful and fascinating worlds remained
completely unseen and untouched.
Canyoning, under safety rules, offers
a unique opportunity of nature
contact to follow a single stream
from the source, increasing as well
specific physical skills.
Excursion could be made in the best
and most wild canyon with or without
water flowing.
RAFTING/CANOEINGAlong the main rivers can be done
soft and hard rafting Local guides
will take you on the most difficulty
spots in perfect safe conditions and
depending by the condition some wa-
terways are no dangerous and could
be done by themselves. Experiencing
exploring river routes, from a hidden
to the most point of view.
An exciting experience in the lush
river vegetation, play in the water,
following the sound of the river under
our boat, looking for trout or a frog
movement, or spying the birds diving
in the water, drinking water straight
from the source.
HIKING WITH MULESAlong the ancient communication
routes you can hike accompanied by
mules. The donkey is the perfect
companion especially for children,
very docile, loves to be cuddled and
caressed. He does not like running
and jumping, but walks normally wi-
thout acceleration. With the donkeys
can be made daily walks or real trek-
king. Is possible to ride donkeys or
use them to carry luggage.
Soon between the animal and its
rider establishes a direct link, a com-
munication unique. So it becomes an
instructive experience and adventure.
MOUNTAIN BIKEThe territory with specified itinerary
and properly equipped accommoda-
tions can support bikers during bike
hiking or trekking.
Here you will find suitable trails for
children as technical itinerary on
downhill and single track with pas-
sages on rocks or jumps.
�
Eco-Tourism
SNOWSHOES TREKKERSDuring the winter season, you can
enjoy special activities in the snow.
The use of snowshoes or cross-
country ski, allows us to move on the
snow without being too tired.
The activity is accessible to all and
requires no special technical skills or
special preparation.
But in any case you can enjoy the
beautiful and unspoiled mountain
scenery in the winter out of the ordi-
nary ski areas.
A wide range of courses offered by
the vast plateau of Castelluccio di
Norcia, in Parco Nazionale dei
Monti Sibillini, and Gavelli in the
Monte Coscerno, are ideal terrain
for schools.
Very interesting also the beech
woods of the Val di Canatra, still in
the Sibillini mountains and the Valley
of Campofoglio. During an excursion
on the snow will conduct an analysis
of the layers of fallen snow on the
ground checking the consistency dis-
played by the metamorphosis taking
the appropriate magnifiers snow
crystals look at the interaction of the
snow itself with the water cycle. We
will have the chance to see the foot-
prints of animals that live in the area.
The snowshoes and the technical
equipment for snow analysis ,will be
provided from our guides.
To complete the services provided by
OUTDOORGUIDE we can organize
training events in different disci-
plines, corporate training events
(team building, outdoor training), im-
plementation of road book and self
guides basis of special needs, orga-
nization of school and youth associa-
tions fully assisted trips with com-
plete logistics assistance.
Accommodation could be arranged
on specified request ranging from
fully equipped campsite to hotel or
mountain hut.
You can request for organized activities
throughout the country and abroad.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
www.outdoorguide.it
MADAGASCAR PRESERVING THE MARINE POPULATION
WORLD ENVIRONMENT
MAGAZINE |
By Maria Alejandra FARIA
Princesse Bora Lodge is a superb hotel on the west coast of Ile Ste Marie,which is a narrow tropical island off the east coast of Madagascar.It is famed for its outstanding whale watching, coconut palm beaches,great snorkeling and water sports. Owned and run by Francois-XavierMayer - whose family has lived on the island since the 1790’s – and a dedicated multilingual team of professionals fluent in English, Spanish, French.
Eco-Tourism
�
Twenty lovely, self-contained
villas built of natural mate-
rials are set amidst a grove of
coconut palms, beside the long white
beach at the edge of the lagoon. All
the Comfort and Luxury villas have a
suspended double bed, a living area,
private facilities with a separate toilet
and a private and a panoramic sea-fa-
cing veranda. Comfort villas can ac-
commodate two people; they are
equipped with a fan and there is a
hammock on the veranda. The six 55
meter-squared octagonal luxury villas
offer double basins, air-conditioning
and a mezzanine room with twin beds.
The five new executive beach villas are
95 meter squared and glass-fronted,
to take full advantage of the tropical
sunsets and the Indian Ocean pano-
rama. The wide terrace provides ano-
ther super vantage point. Beach villas
are air-conditioned and can accom-
modate up to three people in one dou-
ble and one single bed. Facilities in-
clude a bathtub.
The restaurant at Princesse Bora
Lodge is known to be the best on the
island. Fresh seafood and fish is pro-
minent on the menu. French, Creole
and Malagasy influences are reflec-
ted in the cuisine. A wonderful wine
cellar offers a large choice of French,
South-African and local vintages.
The lodge also has a pizza oven for an
alternative to lunch. The bar, with its
oak barrels of flavored rums, is an
ideal spot from which to watch the
sun set over the Indian Ocean.
The lodge has a decked infinity pool
and a wooden pontoon on the lagoon.
Its water sports center provides
snorkeling equipment, pirogues,
canoes and catamarans. It also
has boats for water-skiing and
paragliding. Ile Ste Marie is a
new and excellent surfing destina-
tion. Mountain bikes for exploring the
island are available free of charge,
and for a little fee one can hire a mo-
torbike, quads or a 4WD vehicle with
driver. The nearby PADI dive center
offers courses and a full dive
program, including wreck
and night dives.
Fishermen are ready
to provide boats,
equipment and fishing guides for
some really fine fishing trips inclu-
ding: tuna, bonito, grey mullet, cap-
tains, sea-bream, and king macke-
rel. There is also a wonderful spa
with a full range of treatments for
body and soul.
Princesse Bora Lodge offers a full
program of island excur-
sions including visits to
the only known pirates’
cemetery, �
the oldest church in Madagascar, the
market in Ambodifotatra, the man-
groves or the forest of Ampanihy. The
cross-island walk is a natural trek
through pristine forests and empty
beaches - the hotel provides pick up.
Using a pirogue boat, one can go to Ile
aux Nattes, with its brilliant, soft,
white sand; or a guided walk, to dis-
cover the orchids, clove and cashew
trees and growing cinnamon bark.
Princesse Bora Lodge was built
using local labor. Upon completion,
everyone who had worked on the
construction was offered the oppor-
tunity for full training to qualify for
employment at the lodge.
The channel between Ile Ste Marie and
the Malagasy mainland is a whale-
watching hotspot. Large groups of
humpback whales (Megaptera no-
vaengliae) make their annual migra-
tion from the Antarctic to the sheltered
waters around Ile Ste Marie where they
calve, nurse their young and engage in
their spectacular courtship rituals bet-
ween the end of June and September
of each year.
A unique experience to compli-
ment the wealth of wildlife
that Madagascar offers,
guests at Princesse Bora
�
Lodge can take part in the scientific
monitoring of humpback whales bet-
ween July and September, especially
the mating and giving birth processes.
The Princesse Bora is affiliated to CE-
TAMADA, a Malagasy NGO dedicated
to marine mammals conservation,
through observation and sampling of
the mayor groups with a permanent
base at the lodge during the season.
No one has failed to be impressed by
Mr. Mayer's commitment to conserva-
tion or by the quality of the whale-wat-
ching program. A specialist eco-guide
briefs whale-watchers before and du-
ring the boat trips, which follows the
code of good conduct for approaching
these spectacular creatures. Once si-
lently anchored within 100 meters of a
group of whales, visitors sit back and
watch – or participate in the collection
of data, which is followed by a debrie-
fing conference at the end of the day.
The new package for 2011 is directed
mainly for people who are interested in
knowing what a marine biologist does,
how they conduct their research for
conservation or simply for people who
have always wanted to study marine
biology. The seven-day package is a
promised seven days in paradise. This
includes housing at one of the most re-
nowned eco-lodge, eating the freshest
seafood and best cuisine, having a re-
laxing spa facility at a two minute dis-
tance away, and a full day activity that
comprises a shared experiences of
being a marine biologist leaving a blue
footprint in this planet. Each individuals
participation in this experience be it for
pleasure of scientific curiosity, will raise
invaluable data that will set up the fu-
ture of these majestic mammals. It is
the ultimate holiday destination with a
mission to saving the oceans life!
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE NGOCETAMADAFounded in 2009, Cétamada is a Ma-
lagasy non-profit organization (NGO)
with a mission to preserve the marine
mammal populations through seve-
ral initiatives, ranging from whale
watching, scientific research, com-
munity empowerment and co-mana-
gement. Cétamada is one of the few
NGOs with a shared database and
also a leader organization for the
whale watching operations in Mada-
gascar and the Indian Ocean. The
NGO is actively involved in scientific re-
search projects including: characteri-
zation of sound subunits for hump-
back whales song analysis, census of
marine mammals and other pelagic
mega-fauna by aerial survey in the
French economic exclusive zone
(ZEE), environmental education im-
pact on whale-watching tourism, em-
powerment of local communities
through artisanal workshops, docu-
mentaries and printed material to
sensitize the general public. The Céta-
mada members are internationally re-
cognized researchers involved in the
International Whaling Commission,
Indian Ocean Commission (COI) and
marine research centers in France, as
well as in other parts of Europe. We
believe research activities and the em-
powerment of local communities are
the building blocks to conserve ma-
rine mammal diversity.
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE AREALOCATION OF THE PROGRAMThe program is based in Sainte Marie
Island, Madagascar.
Ile Sainte-Marie, known as Nosy
Boraha, is an island off the east coast �
of Madagascar. The main town is Am-
bodifotatra, the island covers an area
of 222 square kilometers, with a po-
pulation estimated at 16,325 in 2001.
Between the west of Ste Marie Island
and the east coast of Madagascar we
can find the Channel of Ste Marie,
with a maximum depth of 60 meters.
The coastal waters of Ste Marie are a
well-known calving and breeding
grounds for humpback whales bet-
ween July and October each year in
their migration from Antarctica, at-
tracting lots of tourists and resear-
chers to the area. The following map
shows the areas where Cétamada is
already developing scientific and so-
cial activities: Ile Ste Marie, Salary Be,
Maronantsetra, Ifaty, Nosy Be, Fort
Dauphin, Antananarivo.
The activity of whale-watching cruise
is defined as any commercial initia-
tive that allows for the public to ob-
serve whales and other cetaceans in
their natural habitat. This activity ge-
nerates substantial financial benefits
for both private enterprises as well as
for communities and even local go-
vernment. A study assessed the eco-
nomic impact of whale-watching
made in the maritime zones of the
Bay of Antongil, Sainte Marie, Nosy
Be, and Cape Ste. Marie Anakao sho-
wing that this activity generated
1,825,628 US dollars during the 2008
season (Economist at Large 2009).
The study showed that Ste. Marie at-
tracted more tourists to observe
whales than the other sites. Sainte
Marie is the third major tourist desti-
nation after Nosy Be and Toliara in
Madagascar (Ministry of Tourism,
2000). Several recreational activities
related to the marine environment
are suggested by trip operators, in-
cluding whale-watching during the
most important season of migration
of humpback whales. The commer-
cial whale-watching activity began in
late 1980 in Ste. Marie and
has since developed and
improved their quality
of service in the island (Rasoamam-
pianina, 2004). Whale-watching boats
are used as platforms to collect
scientific data and to promote aware-
ness. The data taken from the obser-
vation boats are widely used in scien-
tific research to study the diversity of
marine mammal abundance, spe-
cies distribution (Ingram et al, 2007,
Rowat 2009). Cétamada uses at least
14 whale-watching boats in a season
as tools for gathering boat-based
scientific data. Also the whale-wat-
ching activity is a platform for envi-
ronmental awareness programs
among visitors and locals (Corkeron,
2006; Atkins and Swartz, 1988). The
public can learn about marine
mammals in their natural environ-
ment. In short, ecotourism (whale-
watching) is an essential means to
ensure the conservation of hump-
back whales in their breeding and
feeding environment.
We have conducted a
follow-up of the popu-
�
MAIN GOALS ACHIEVED BY CETAMADA’S TEAM
1.Total humpback whales observed: >1500.2.Total of tourist for the season: >1600.3.Total of trips: >210.4.Total of hours for the trips: >630.5.Total Photo IDs: >170.6.Average of the whale-watching contact efficiency of the trips: 35%.7.More than 120 DVDs recorded for sensitizing the tourists.8.More than 120 new memberships.9.Total eco-juniors (between 13 and 17 years old) in the “whale sum-
mer camp”: 1010. A total of 37 volunteers for the season.11.Seven (7) hours of songs recorded for further acoustics analysis by
specialists.12.Assistance and presentation in nine weekly meetings of Cétamada
members in Ste Marie.13.Tax carbon for the season calculated at 295,379.81 Kg of CO2 (equal
to 4.431 Euros) for 295 trees to be planted.14.Poll for environmental education impact among tourist taking the
whale watching tours 15.More than 95 hours of presentations/talks to tourists, and more than 30
hours of interventions at local schools and communities.16.Media press presentation Antananarivo 15th of June, Festival of the
Whale in Ambodifototra June 20th, Oceans media press in Antanana-rivo from the 16th to the 18th of September.
17.Two ghost fishing net pull out of the sea (1 was approx. 8mx3m and theother 2mx2m), rescuing one sea turtle: Eretchmotchelis imbricata, dataand details were sent to Kélonia (Turtles Conservation Center at LaReunion, France).
18.First observation registered of a humpback whale birth on August 30th2010 and follow-up for the re-sight; release to scientific press and gene-ral media (Latin America, Europe, Indian Ocean).
19.Daily news and maintenance of the Cétamada web page, including theupdate of the Photo ID database (free access).
20.Preparation of a presentation for Cétamada volunteers and operators inEnglish, and groundwork of a second presentation of humpback whales(a deep look into biology and physiology).
21.Two (2) drafts for scientific articles based on the observations done onthe humpback whale’s birth August 30th,, 2010.
22.Draft analysis of the 2009 and 2010 data from all Cétamada operators(17) around Madagascar (on going).
23.Leading and support to the dolphin watching team in Ste Marie Islandfrom October 7th to the 15th, 2010 (Mauritius – France - Madagascar).
24.Draft abstracts to many International Congresses.
lation of humpback whales and other
cetacean species during the migra-
tion seasons of humpback whales.
This period is defined in Article 10 of
the ministerial decree No. 2083/2000
of 8 March 2000 is between late June
and late October.
Different observation techniques
used have allowed the identification
of a total of ten species in the sites
of intervention Cétamada during the
two seasons for whale watching.
These species include two species
of baleen whales or baleen hump-
back whale (Megaptera novaean-
gliae) and right whales (Eubalaena
australis), eight species of odonto-
cetes or toothed whales: the bottle-
nose dolphin (Tursiops sp), Stenella
(Stenella sp), Pseudorque (Pseu-
dorca crassidens), Mesoplodon
(Mesoplodon sp) Mesoplodon Long-
man (Indopacetus pacificus), dol-
phin of Electra (Peponocephala elec-
tra) Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius
cavirostris), species of Delphinidae, �
finned pilot whales (Globicephala
macrorhyncus). The results of aerial
surveys have revealed the possibility
of observation of dugong (Dugong
dugon) and other species of dolphins
that we could not identify.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE GEOGRAPHIC LOCALIZATION OF THE PROJECTS RELIES IN TWO MAJOR ASPECTS:
1 We are within the Indian Ocean
Sanctuary (1979), and re-evaluated
and expanded at the 46th Annual
Meeting of the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) in 1994. Even
though this is a special management
and conservation area, no humpback
whale census has been released
since the establishment of the Sanc-
tuary; in other words, no population
estimate is available to date. At that
time the population of the breeding
area C3, corresponding to Madagas-
car was 2,532 and then an estimate
between 4 936 – 8 169 individuals was
done by Wild Conservation Society
(WCS) based on a study between 2000
and 2006 in Antongil Bay with analy-
sis of Photo ID and multi-locus mi-
crosatellite genotypes. The same
study states, among potential biases
(sampling area, models used, etc) the
geographic or population estimation
for humpback whales. Our main goal
is to reinforce the research in this
subject estimating the number of
humpback whales at Ste Marie’s co-
astal waters and to design a survey
method suitable for the environ-
mental and socio-economic context
in Madagascar, that can be replica-
ted in other coast of the country and
that will allow to study trends in time
and space.
2 The general socio-economic
context where the project is establi-
shed, Madagascar, is characterized
by a depressed quality of life (as any
undeveloped country). Nevertheless,
on the island of Ste. Marie, after more
than ten years of working towards
bringing together development and
conservation of marine life, specially
humpback whales, we can see the
difference among other coastal com-
munities. On the Island of Ste Marie,
the leaders of Cétamada have been
working for more than ten years to-
wards involving the local community
in the conservation projects, and now
is the population of Ste Marie that
looks forward on being involved in
whales conservation in order to keep
their status and quality of life. This led
to a tangible improvement in the de-
velopment of the community compa-
red to other coastal regions of Mada-
gascar. The migration of this species
during the winter months brings
more than 3000 tourists per year in
this area (ca. 80% of annual tourism),
being the third place that attracts
more tourists in Madagascar.
By supporting the expansion and
continuity of our social and scientific
programs we assure that a sustaina-
ble life style will keep rising from and
for the communities associated to
the coastal waters of Madagascar.
Thus setting the example and prece-
dent for other communities in the In-
dian Ocean Sanctuary, and in other
parts of the world where whales, and
the environment in general, can be
used to improve human quality of life
while preserving and actually impro-
ving the state of such natural compo-
nents. This project is an active exam-
ple to show that men and sea can
interact in equilibrium, and how the
science behind the scenes holds up
the system.
�
BY SUPPORTING THE EXPANSION ANDCONTINUITY OF OUR SOCIAL AND SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMSWE ASSURE THAT ASUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE WILL KEEP RISING FROM AND FOR THE COMMUNITIES ASSOCIATED TO THECOASTAL WATERS OF MADAGASCAR
17 March 2011
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Climate Change: Impacts and
Responses
www.on-climate.com
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
22-26 May 2011
World Environmental and Water
Resources Congress
www.content.asce.org/conferences
Palm Springs, USA
31 May - 1 June 2011
2nd Annual Greening
Government Conference
www.greeninggovernment.ca
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
31 May - 3 June 2011
Project Lebanon
www.projectlebanon.com
Beirut, Lebanon
July
2-5 May 2011
Conference on Wind Energy
and Wildlife Impacts
www.cww2011.nina.no
Trondheim, Norway
8-10 May 2011
International Sustainable
Development Research Conference
www.isdrc17.ei.columbia.edu
New York, USA
11-13 May 2011
17th International Energy
and Environment Fair and Conference
www.icci.com.tr
Istanbul, Turkey
16-19 May 2011
6th Annual International Symposium
on Environment
www.atiner.gr/environment
Athens, Greece
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