See a starfish caress a schoolgirl’s cheek as she holds hands with the boy with the algae beard. Watch a baby shark swirl‘round that Beetle parked curbside to coral and lobsters. Underwater, everything’s magnified. Changing currents and depths cause kaleidoscopic effects. Dive in next season and all will be changed. Jason deCaires Taylor creates underwater eco-art: offering “eerie encounters where art evolves from the effects of nature on the efforts of man”. Taylor works with marine biologists to create site-specific, underwater sculpture parks that double-duty as artificial coral reefs.

Artful Intervention Rejuvenates the Sea

His sculptures change over time. There’s a living aspect to them. Inanimate objects develop biological growth. He says they “evolve within the narrative of nature.”

Artificial reefs form when man-made objects settle on the ocean floor, providing stable surfaces that can support growth of a new reef community, or replacing reefs that have been destroyed.

But reef restoration is more complex than dropping derelict ships and subway cars onto a sea bed. Poorly made artificial reefs carry their own set of consequences.

Only 8 percent of our oceans are “shallow seas”, but these contain most of the world’s marine life. Coral lives in shallow waters, typically at depths less than 100 feet. These wildly diverse ecosystems harbor as much life as a rainforest.

Reefs build upon skeletons of previous coral generations and reef builders work at a glacial pace. Sponges, corals, and fans spread their population at a rate of just a few centimeters per year. This fragile animal workforce is vulnerable to storms, changing sea temperature and water chemistry.

Their greatest stresses come from us: overfishing, pollution, unregulated marine construction and tourism. The ironic loop of tourism to Natural Wonders is that the wonders naturally diminish as the number of tourists, if uncontrolled and uneducated, increase.

Egypt, Israel, and Jordan stand to lose enormous tourism revenue if Red Sea coral reefs continue to be destroyed by coastal development.

The United Nations Environment Program cites the primary threat to Red Sea reef ecosystems as inadequate environmental standards in Saudi and Egyptian oil facilities and the de-ballasting of ships. Scientists predict an 80% permanent loss of natural coral reef by 2050.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that coral ecosystems in Middle East seas are in generally good shape, but ten percent of world reefs overall have been completely destroyed. Artificial reefs can turn the tide by providing alternative habitat for threatened species.

Artful eco-parks also lure tourists away from sensitive “real” reefs. With his sculpture sited in clear, shallow, barren areas, Taylor replicates the requisite conditions to stimulate coral growth and also gives easy access to view his works to divers, snorkelers and passengers on increasingly-popular glass bottom boats.

Taylor sees that diverting tourism gives the natural reefs greater chance to repair and regenerate. His extraordinary works are designed “to use sculpture as a means of conveying hope and awareness of the plight of our oceans”. He envisions a new era of tourism where tourists sharply view beaches as living ecosystems, and not just wallpaper to some kick-back fun in the sun.

Says the artist, “Eventually the underwater gallery will be totally assimilated by marine life, transformed to another state, a metaphor for the future of our own species”. Perhaps a bit dark there, Jason. But I do like this work. It conjures up childhood memories of mail-order kits for Magic Rocks and Sea Monkeys. It’s beautiful and a bit frightening.

An inspired attempt to use art and watersports and alternative holiday-making to amp up our environmental intelligence.

::Underwater Sculpture

In 2010, the Kingdom established the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (KACARE) to develop low carbon sources of energy, prompting us to ask: Who’s Going Nuclear in the Middle East?

Then in June of 2011, at the annual Gulf Environment Forum, the Kingdom announced plans to commit more than $100 billion over the next 20 years to develop a civil nuclear program.

The Kingdom plans to build 16 nuclear reactors at a projected cost of $7 billion each, according to an announcement by Abdul Ghani bin Melaibari, KACARE Coordinator of Scientific Collaboration.

We covered it in a previous story: The Middle East Nuclear Power Boom Without Toxic Waste Strategy.

The Saudis could not have picked a better partner than China, which is working on the most ambitious plans in the world to boost its nuclear energy capability by 2035 is so far beyond other nations, that it bears no resemblance to its 2008 levels.

When China plans a move into a low-carbon form of energy it does not hesitate. It is already the world leader in hydro, and recently overtook the US to become the world leader in wind power.

It has begun building 27 nuclear reactors and will have 100 or more by 2030, which would amount to nearly a quarter of the 432 reactors in operation now.

China is pursuing alternatives to the traditional uranium-fueled nuclear power – such as reactors that run on thorium fuel, or that use unconventional designs such as fast neutron, molten salt and pebble bed.

Some nuclear experts believe that these new unconventional designs are potentially safer and more efficient than the traditional water cooled uranium-fueled reactors that have remained unchanged since the nuclear age.

Previously Saudi Arabia has been in talks with the French on developing the more traditional uranium power.

Official sources from Saudi Arabia say that they plan to get 20% of their electricity from nuclear, even while domestic demand is growing at an estimated 8% over the next ten years.

Related stories:

Lebanon harbors over 2600 plant species of which 119 are counted to be endemic. The unique climatic and landscape diversity in Lebanon has shaped 22 bio-climatic zones which fosters one of the most precious ecological services:  genetic diversity. Unfortunately, the conservation of biodiversity in Lebanon is increasingly at risk due the largely uncontrolled and unidentified introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in the domestic market and the absence of national policies that specifically outline biosafety legislation.

Lebanon has only recently ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (October 2008) a convention that provides guidance for the rational management of the risks associated with the use of biotechnologies. Nevertheless, there is no official policy for the detection and identification of produce that contains GMO. The lack of legislations that monitor biotechnologies are likely to have unidentified effects on the future of domestic biodiversity.

Biotechnologies interfere with central aspects of life. By altering and contaminating the genetic information of crop species, GMOs risk eroding the indigenous knowledge of the native varieties of seeds and species which architect local biodiversity.

The resulting rapid and widespread extinction of crop varieties through GMO monocultures, leave farmers with fewer options to address problems caused by unpredictable climate change.

One solution to preserving biodiversity is through seed banks. Naydaya founded by Vandana Shiva is a program that has established 65 Community Seed Banks across India. The idea is that seeds contain historic memory. Seeds are the first stage in the food chain and the ultimate symbol of food security. Therefore seeds are central for farmers and society since the free and uncontaminated exchange of seeds ensures biodiversity is maintained and farmers have “tools” at their disposal to remain resilient towards climate change.

Naydaya’s conservation initiative “represents the accumulation over centuries of people’s knowledge and, by being a reflection of the options available to them, it [seeds] represents their choice.”

In other words, seeds are inextricably linked to the fundamental human right of food security which is increasingly being undermined through “Patents on Life” and GMO companies like Monsanto. This has already had controversial impacts in India, and I encourage readers to watch the documentary “Life Running Out of Control” for more information on the impacts of GMO’s.  But what does the future of “seeds” in Lebanon look like?

Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank’s global partnership is a network of 120 partners in 54 countries aims to secure the safe storage of 25% of the world’s plants by 2020, targeting species and regions most at risk from climate change and the ever-increasing impact of human activities.

In Lebanon, 33 percent of its flora has been collected by Kew and more than 1,200 seed samples of cereal, legume, and their wild relatives, have been previously collected by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas.

This seems like a positive step, but is banking on seeds enough?  Will this solution insure against biodiversity loss brought about by the introduction of GMOs? In other words, in the face of GMO contaminated land, will the reintroduction of native seeds successfully restore the indigenous habitat?

The problem is that seed banks may not be necessarily giving local farmers the “power” to determine their future income and productivity because the introduction of GMOs risk altering entire ecosystems and the reintroduction of indigenous seeds may prove to be futile in restoring biodiversity and resolving issues related to crop resilience against climate change.

The truth is that there is really only one sure solution, GMOs should simply be banned. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the Middle East to have banned GMOs and other countries in the region including Lebanon, should follow suit.

Image via tgerus

A journalist from the Saudi paper Jazan was shocked to discover pencils brandishing an Israeli logo on the shelves of his local Abu Rialin store. Made from recycled wood, Kravitz pencils are a hugely popular product in Israel but have never been exported – particularly not to an Arab country.

The Jazan journalist criticized the Saudi Ministry of Commerce for allowing the sale of “zionist” goods in a popular chain store. What’s worse, the pencils are being sold for one third of what they cost in Israel ($1.30). Kravitz CEO Menashe Zilka told Ynet News that he has no idea how the pencils landed up in Saudi.

He suggests that maybe a wholesaler or entrepreneur bought a pile of pencils and persuaded Abu Rialin to stock them.

:: Ynet News

image via Cohdra, Morguefile

More bizarre news from the Gulf:
HAMAD: Sheikh Graffiti Visible From Space
Giant Human Infrared Dryers Slash Carbon Emissions
Dubai Porsche Driver Walks Pet Cheetah on a Leash

There’s no getting around it: the world is becoming a much less secure place in which to live. Economies are tanking, geo-political systems are in turmoil, weather events such as wintertime drought are becoming more frequent and serious, and already dangerous planetary warming is being exacerbated by phenomenon such as giant plumes of gurgling methane discovered in the great white north. All of these factors have an impact on the ability of ordinary people to find healthy food at decent prices. So we have gathered 7 agricultural solutions that are being harnessed in the Middle East region to address these challenges and increase our resilience amidst one of the most uncertain times that humanity has faced. Read on for the not-to-miss list.

1. Groasis Waterboxx Trees

It’s absolutely essential that we find solutions that address our unique challenges, and the Groasis Waterboxx is one of them. Launched in Jordan earlier this year, the Groasis Waterboxx makes it possible to grow a sapling without shoveling soil or using excess water.

Originally introduced by AquaPro Holland and invented by Pieter Hoff, the Groasis relies on biomimicry to nurture seeds similarly to the way that nature does in particularly harsh environments such as the desert. Its ergonomic design efficiently harvests rain and condensation to ensure the maximum amount of growth effect with the smallest amount of hydrological input – an excellent solution that definitely targets the Middle East’s specific agricultural challenges.

2. AeroFarms Vertical Farming

Green Prophet writer Susan Kraemer wrote that AeroFarms could herald one of the most important developments in food harvesting since humans switched from hunting and gathering to farming.

These clever stacked farms that can be used virtually anywhere – including inside buildings in the heart of any city – use aeroponic farming technology instead of soil and sunshine to grow food. Saudi Arabia has already embraced the technology that specifically addresses estimates that 80% of the world’s burgeoning population will be living in cities by 2050.

3. Yemenite Rainwater Harvesting

Food grows where water flows, so harvesting rainwater in nearly dry cities such as Sana’a in Yemen is absolutely pivotal to any kind of agricultural success. Which is why Sabrina Faber’s award-winning rainwater capture system is so clever. Adding to its ingenuity is its sheer simplicity: the rainwater harvesting system will be incorporated into rooftops and is modeled after traditional capture designs Faber has seen out in Yemen’s countryside.

4. Gaza’s Green Roofs of Herbs and Vegetables

“They” say that necessity is the mother of invention, and this is turning out to be particularly true when it comes to food. Many residents in Gaza have experienced have embraced one of the largest growing urban agricultural solutions.

Having no land and stunted access to to food, many people in this politically-charged strip of land are growing cabbage, eggplants, and endochriyya [a plant used for making soup] in the winter, as well as chili, garlic, and onions in summer, and they are doing all of this on their flat rooftops that receive plenty of sunlight. Several rooftop farming initiatives have popped up in Cairo and Beirut as well.

5. Liveinslums Microgardens in Cairo

A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Liveinslums has worked with local architects and designers to help residents in Cairo’s neglected City of the Dead grow microjardins – mini, soilless, and transportable subsistence gardens that also fertilize the sand. In addition to being incredibly portable, the microjardins are easy to construct.

Liveinslums provide seeds, turf and perlite, which act as a substitute to soil, vitamin solutions that are added to water, and plastic, wood, and other recycled materials out of which these mini gardens are made. Initiatives like this demonstrate that with the right amount of tender loving care, food can be grown anywhere!

6. Feeding Abu Dhabi With Water From Air

Despite having some of the world’s most largest and grandest desalination plants, the Gulf countries are quite possibly the most vulnerable when it comes to water, and they are rising to the challenge with some of the most sophisticated water capture innovations.

With an average humidity level of 61% , the Abu Dhabi Farmers’ Services Center (FSC) has spearheaded G-earth  - a technology that extracts condensation from the air to provide water for Abu Dhabi greenhouses.

7. SEKEM – Egyptian Organic Farm

Organic farming may not be new, but Egypt’s largest is so successful that we can’t ignore its potential to not only save people from food shortages, but also to restore the country’s soil to sustainable levels.

Established by Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish in 1977, SEKEM is an organic farming community that integrates social, economic and environmental development just outside Cairo. Run by Dr. Abouleish’s son Helmy, this incredible enterprise that champions the best in sustainable farming techniques has grown from 70 hectares to several thousand!

lead image via The Green Pages, Flickr

Phase II of Saudi Arabia’s 276 mile Haramain High Speed Rail Project (HHR) is now underway. The Kingdom is getting 35 swanky new trains and 4 stations designed by Foster + Partners for a cool $8.21 million.  By the end of 2012, the stations are expected to accommodate 60 million passengers each year, although that number could increase to as many as 135 million by 2042, according to World Architecture News.

Getting that many Saudis off the road will be a boon for climate change, especially given our recent alarm over giant plumes of methane that could accelerate planetary warming. With speeds of up to 187 miles per hour that will get passengers from Jeddah to Makkah in less than half an hour, we can safely say the HHR project is Saudi-slick enough to encourage people to park their cars at home.

Each of the four new stations are designed in accordance with traditional Islamic architecture and will feature the iconic arched roof canopies. In addition to the transportation services, the stations will provide socializing space, refuge from Saudi’s scorching sun, as well as opportunities to purchase food.

Although statistically Arabs are not sold on the idea of using public transportation, it is hoped that these super efficient rail services will encourage more, thereby reducing the local drain on Saudi’s oil reserves.

The 14 member Saudi/Spain Al Shoula consortium is responsible for constructing railway tracks, installing signaling and telecommunications systems, electrification, developing an operations control center, and purchasing 35 new trains. The consortium is also expected to provide operations and maintenance services over the next 12 years.

Although costly and probably flashier than it ought to be, this project has great potential to bring Saudi Arabia’s carbon footprint down a few notches. We’re kind of looking forward to taking a ride!

:: WAN

Arabic is the fastest growing language on microblogging site Twitter, with a 2000 % increase in Arabic postings logged over the past 12 months.

This week Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) announced a $300 million investment in social media site, Twitter. This isn’t radical corporate evolution: apparently the shares were direct-purchased from one of the micro-blog’s co-founders following months of negotiations.

The tweeted news was quickly christened with its own hashtag as it started trending on the micro-blogging website.

Alwaleed bin Talal is an Arab media mogul with most of his investments in traditional outlets like print and television. He is the second largest investor in both global media company Newscorp and, within KSA, the Arab world’s leading publishing company, the Saudi Research and Marketing Group. Arabian Business magazine has stated his wealth at more than $21 billion.

His strategy is “to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact,” according to a statement from Kingdom Holding, which quoted the prince.

Critical bloggers are asking how this will affect Twitter’s “editorial integrity”. Whenever a media outlet changes hands, impacts of new ownership on content are questioned. But is it even possible for an owner to censor content when the system generates 250 million tweets and 1.6 billion search queries per day?

Is there a more sinister motive behind this investment?

Viewed as a key enabler of the Arab Spring, activists have used Twitter to voice opposition to autocratic regimes, coordinate protests and live-stream news out of Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Syria.  A younger Twitter is credited with powerful influence over the 2009 Iranian elections.   China has a long record of tampering with public accessibility to social media. Iran periodically blocks Facebook and interrupts YouTube.   Could Twitter be gagged if it threatens Saudi government and policies?

More likely, this investment should be taken at face value, an endorsement of social media and a shrewd investment. Said Hirsh, a Mideast economist with Capital Economics in London, says, “Rich Arab investors like Alwaleed have long targeted trophy assets and well established businesses.  It’s an investment into a well-recognized brand with future growth potential.” Hirsch added that Twitter investors such as Alwaleed are unlikely to try to influence the user-generated content on the site.

Currently, the top 5 languages in use on Twitter are English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Malay. According to French social media researcher Semiocast, Arabic, in 8th place, accounts for just over 1% of all Tweets. Of 180 million tweets posted in October 2011, 2.2 million of them were posted in Arabic.

In the biggest turn-around since Kyoto was signed by the developed world – other than the US – now the big emitters, (besides America), are five developing countries, who were omitted from being bound by Kyoto, because back in 1995, they were poor developing countries.

Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia and China – along with the US – are the BASIC countries driving global emissions, but the Saudis may have brought them into the fold.

It is a historic first that in the Durban climate talks; these nations, the top emitters have agreed to be covered under the new treaty to be nailed down over the next 3 years and which will be law (for the entire world) by 2020. Carbon capture may have been a big part of that, because the BASIC countries and the US are the world’s biggest coal producers. And you can thank the Saudis for persistently demanding carbon capture.

(Related: Saudi Arabia Holds Out for Carbon Capture & Storage at Cancun)

Kyoto did succeed in reducing carbon emissions - of the countries that signed onto it. The EU set up the ETS (European Trading Scheme) and used cap and trade to force emission-reductions on polluters. Although criticised by right and left alike, carbon trading as a way of raising funds for investment is still the mechanism by which clean technology transfer is actually happening.

And with the CDM to allow allocation for carbon capture, the BASIC countries will likely now begin to invest seriously in carbon capture. (Related: Masdar and US to Collaborate on Carbon Capture)

Carbon on the table in Qatar

After years of debate it was decided whether and how to allocate carbon offsets under the Clean Development Mechanism to carbon capture and storage projects. Adding carbon capture has long been a demand of the Saudis.

One element of the plan for carbon capture is that because of the considerable uncertainty about their yet unproven efficacy, developers will have to put 5% of the credits earned in reserve so they will be awarded only after 20 years, provided that no carbon dioxide has leaked from the underground store.

The next meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP18 will be in December 2012 in Qatar. I think the world is finally getting somewhere…

Image: Kate Shepherd at Mother Jones

Related stories:
Huge Success for MENA – CDM Saved in Durban
Qatar Sends UN Proposal To Bury Carbon And Export More
OPEC Countries Seek “Developing Nation” Funds to Capture CO2

While many environmentalists are decrying the COP17 climate talks (# COP17FAIL: Climate Change is a One-Size-Fits-All Problem) as being imperfect, I see some real progress hidden in all that bureaucratese.

For MENA (Middle East and North Africa) nations, the best result of the Durban climate talks is the immediate continuation of the Kyoto Accord that binds nearly 40 industrial countries, that was in danger of being “termed out” when it expired in 2012. For the Kyoto Protocol countries, the Kyoto has been given a second commitment period (or a commuted death sentence!)

Along with that second commitment period, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) will continue as well.

This has been one of the most important drivers of renewable energy investment in the MENA region. Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt are among the most rapidly advancing nations in the world in adding renewables through the CDM.

Some examples:
Could Morocco be First to Get 42% Solar?
Desertec Plans Get Boosts from MENA and EU Renewable Policies
Post-Revolution Egypt Wants New Wind Farms
Desertec Begins: 500 MW Moroccan Solar in 2012
3rd Desertec Deal Signed – Algerian Solar Will Ship to the EU

The CDM is an offsetting tool that is used to reduce global emissions with cap and trade: essentially polluters are fined and forced to invest those pollution fees in clean energy in emerging economies.

Enlarging renewable energy investments

Under the agreement at Durban, next, the CDM will be open to all countries needing to offset emissions, which greatly enlarges the potential funding for renewable projects worldwide, as well as beginning to familiarize the rest of the world with the nuts and bolts of the Kyoto Accord’s cap and trade mechanism. Only 40 industrialized nations are party to the Kyoto Protocol. Opening its CDM will enlarge opportunities globally for renewable investment.

By 2015, China will be funding renewables to offset emissions under its own cap and trade scheme. The continuity of the CDM is a godsend for real climate action, because it serves as a model, and bringing the whole world in is a big step forward.

“This is highly significant because the Kyoto Protocol’s accounting rules, mechanisms and markets all remain in action as effective tools to leverage global climate action and as models to inform future agreements” as Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations told the world at the conclusion of the Durban talks.

Reasons to celebrate the Durban Platform, agreed to by all nations. It provides:

1. For the first time, all 191 nations agree to be bound by the same rule. (The Kyoto Protocol covers only 40),

2. A real roadmap to a universal 2015 treaty with legal enforcement by 2020 (coincidentally the date for many greenhouse gas emission targets worldwide),

3. A lifeline for the faltering carbon markets of the European Trading Scheme (unnerved by the imminent end of Kyoto predicted before Durban),

4. The Clean Development Mechanism continues (key to third world and Desertec plans that have already begun, and one of the most useful of the policy tools reducing emissions) and will most likely be wrapped into the 2015 plan for all nations,

5. A way to funding for the Green Climate Fund (to help impoverished nations already struggling with climate change).

6. Allowing the inclusion of funding for carbon capture (means that polluters can invest in their carbon scrubbers and be reimbursed)

(Related: Saudi Arabia Holds Out for Carbon Capture & Storage at Cancun, and OPEC Countries Seek “Developing Nation” Funds to Capture CO2)

Read more on climate issues: 
Durban May Agree on Green Climate Fund, Overriding US Republicans
Possible End of Kyoto at Durban Threatens MENA Renewable Investment
Bonn: The Latest Climate Talks and the Middle East

Imagine a rapidly growing tourist paradise, but set in the path of a “freeway” line of oil tankers constantly moving through, shipping out a third of the world’s oil, polluting the coastline, and you can begin to imagine the scope of the Gulf problem assessed by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health in Toronto.

“These are countries which because of their wealth have been developing so very rapidly that the pace at which things are happening is tending to outstrip the pace at which capacity to regulate is growing.”

Providing fresh water in a parched desert creates environmental destruction, because these desert lands are almost completely dependent on desalination plants for up to 90 percent of their water and those plants “deliver toxic brine into the Gulf.”

Then waste is “frequently dumped directly into the Gulf or riverbeds and wetlands where it then infiltrates into shallow aquifers and eventually enters coastal waters,” said the Canadian report.

It is all made worse by the fact that the region has developed so rapidly, relatively recently, since the discovery of oil. “There are lots of things that are going wrong. And the reason is that fundamentally there is a relatively weak environmental science capacity in the region,” Peter Sale, the study’s co-author told AFP according to Al Arabiya.

Among other things, one effect of this lack of local environmental focus has resulted in extreme overfishing. (Kuwait Marine Life Degrading to Alarming Levels) The $996 million fishing industry has great employment numbers. But, says the study “many fishery species are in peril due to over-exploitation” due to inadequate regulation of the fishing industry.

Read more on the Gulf region:
Must It Be “The End Of The Line” For Fish? 
Muslim Countries Tackle Water Scarcity
What Abu Dhabi Plans For When The Water Runs Out