The Syrian civil war was an indirect result of extreme drought in Syria at the time. As history unfolds before us, we see that lack of water breeds unrest and unrest leads to conflicts that spill between countries in the Middle East and North Africa region –– often referred to as MENA, if you are a policy maker. So how can global powers exert soft power to avoid conflict and avert major climate migration?

Water scarcity isn’t only an environmental issue—it’s a driver of political tension, migration, and even conflict. In the Middle East and North Africa, shared rivers, shrinking aquifers, and climate stress are making water diplomacy as critical as water technology.

Green Prophet is keeping our eye on various areas of concern:

The Nile Basin: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia remain locked in dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Without a binding agreement on dam operations, water security for millions downstream is at risk. As of July this year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed publicly announced that the GERD is now fully constructed, with plans to officially inaugurate it in September 2025. What will happen when it goes online?

The Jordan River: Water allocation between Israel, Jordan, and Palestine is under strain from drought and population growth. While it was once a major river in the Levante area, the Jordan River today is a trickle of its former glory. Water diplomacy through groups like Friends of the Middle East – good friends to Green Prophet, may not only be averting crises, but is a path to peace and prosperity in the Holy Land.

The Tigris-Euphrates: Turkey’s dam projects and climate-driven drought are squeezing flows to Iraq and Syria. Turkey’s ambitious Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) includes more than 22 major dams and 19 hydroelectric plants across the Tigris and Euphrates basins, with key structures like the Atatürk and Ilısu dams. These have significantly altered and reduced downstream flows into Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, the Euphrates has seen over a 60% reduction in flow over the past two decades, while the Tigris has also shrunk alarmingly.

Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier

Rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and more frequent droughts amplify existing disputes. Water scarcity can fuel unrest, as seen in Iran’s Khuzestan protests, and can undermine fragile peace deals in post-conflict states like Libya and Yemen.

While water can be a source of conflict—it is veritably a bridge to peace. As scarcity worsens, MENA nations must decide whether to compete for the last drops or collaborate for shared security. The coming years will test their capacity for water diplomacy.

The post Water conflicts in the Middle East region to watch in 2025 appeared first on Green Prophet.

In a region long marked by political divides, armed conflict, and environmental degradation, EcoPeace Middle East is quietly advancing the power of peacebuilding. Peace through education. Through its cross-border teacher tours in the Jordan Valley, EcoPeace is bringing together educators from Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories to address critical environmental issues.

EcoPeace has offices in Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; and Ramallah, located in the West Bank. It exists as one of the only organizations working together across these three locations. Their goal is ambitious, complex, and challenging: to utilize environmental challenges as a catalyst for regional cooperation. For two decades, their work has been shaped by a truth that transcends borders.

See Related Article: EcoPeace gets peacebuilding award

The Jordan River, stretching from the heights of Mount Hermon to the lowest point on Earth’s surface—the Dead Sea—is a symbol of biodiversity, religion, and culture. However, it has suffered from decades, if not centuries, of abuse. For years, raw sewage from countries, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories, has been poured into its waters. More than 600,000 Jordanians and 60,000 Palestinians continue to discharge waste into the river basin. Additionally, multiple dams have altered the flow and the stretch of the river downstream from the Sea of Galilee, which is significantly polluted. 

Yet, the mindsets and actions of those living in areas surrounding the Jordan River are undergoing a change. Israeli initiatives are invested in cleaner water, infrastructure, and sewage treatment. Both state-led and NGO efforts drive this renewed focus on the restoration. These efforts are slowly but surely transforming once-over-polluted areas into zones of rehabilitation, use, and recreation. Increased cooperation, driven by EcoPeace, has allowed for coordinated responses to the shared environmental threat. These cooperation efforts are not only cleaning the Jordan River, but are also creating new channels for positive regional dialogue.

One of the most effective ways EcoPeace advances its mission is by targeting educators. Each year, the organization hosts educational conferences specifically designed for teachers, primarily those in biology, ecology, and related fields. Approximately 25 teachers from Israel, Jordan, and Palestine participate in each session. These sessions focus not only on the Jordan River being a shared resource and a symbol of regional interdependence, but also on the importance of preserving it. Additionally, they focus on the interactions between teachers from the conflicting groups.

They are designed to create empathy, cooperation, and inspire teachers to integrate transboundary environmental programming into their curriculum. Each session is followed up by support and guidance on how to engage students with the environmental peacebuilding material. Workshops used to take place in Jordan, with all participants traveling there. However, due to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, sessions are now held in Cyprus.

The teacher workshops and tours serve as a platform for both learning and dialogue. Regional-political complexities are not ignored; they are engaged, debated, and discussed. However, the program encourages participants to look beyond national and media narratives to instead focus on the common good. Helping educate the youth to provide a better environmental future. When teachers from Tel Aviv, Amman, and Ramallah examine the same stretch of polluted river, it creates a shared experience. The shared concern for the Jordan River, as well as other environmental issues, and, on a larger scale, the region, becomes the foundation for a deeper understanding.

EcoPeace’s work is not limited to the Jordan Valley. The organization is also active along the Alexander Stream and near the Dead Sea. Both areas, like the Jordan River, face enormous environmental stress. What all of these locations have in common is that all three participants within EcoPeace are affected. Both geographical ties and responsibility ties interconnect the Middle East. The typical mindset of “It is someone else’s problem” does not work. It takes teachers, the youth, and the region as a whole to come together to solve these problems because they are everyone’s.

EcoPeace’s strategy is dual, combining both bottom-up and top-down approaches. The bottom-up approach focuses on the aforementioned teacher workshops and trickles down education to the youth. The top-down approach focuses on EcoPeace’s efforts to collaborate with government officials and decision-makers, aiming to influence policy and regional environmental practices. 

The organization has been instrumental in advancing the “Green Blue Deal.” This is a project that entails Israel providing desalinated water to Jordan in exchange for energy. This is made possible due to Israel’s experience and expertise in desalination plants, along with Jordan’s expansive geographic area for solar and wind farms. Projects like this are designed to foster interdependence, where both countries rely on each other for mutual benefit. With interdependence comes cooperation, and with cooperation comes increased normalcy in relations.

Even amid rising tensions and conflicts, EcoPeace remains committed to its mission. In the aftermath of the October 7th attacks carried out by the terrorist organization known as Hamas, the organization maintained communication across all offices. Staff members checked in on colleagues from all sides, underscoring their commitment to preserving connection even during times of conflict.

See Related Article: The wind farms of the Middle East

The resilience of the educational programs is astounding. While many participants may enter tours with skepticism or strong preconceived notions, they often leave with new perspectives and a deeper appreciation. While political solutions remain improbable, educational ones are already in motion. 

See Related Article: The Blue Green Deal and climate pacts between enemies

EcoPeace aims to expand the teacher programs and increase its reach in the coming years. With more than 1,000 students already directly impacted by the initiative, the organization utilizes teachers as ambassadors for environmental peacemaking.

In a region where peace is scarce, EcoPeace offers a solution—one where educators plant the seeds of coexistence. 

To learn more about EcoPeace’s educational programs and environmental peacebuilding efforts, visit https://ecopeaceme.org.

The post How EcoPeace Uses Environmental Education to Bridge Borders in the Jordan Valley appeared first on Green Prophet.

While I was on my 10-day Taglit Birthright Israel trip, I had the opportunity to go to the Dead Sea, and it was one of my favorite places I have ever been to. It was like no other place I’d ever seen. It was so beautiful, it felt like I was in a dream. Floating in the Dead Sea was magical, and the color of the water with the mountains in the background was unreal. This gem of Israel is by far the highlight of any trip to Israel and I hope to return again soon.

The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. It is the saltiest water body on the planet, with a salt concentration of 36 percent, so salty that no life can live in this sea except for some rare form of bacteria. When you go swimming in the sea, you float entirely. It borders Jordan and Israel and is the world’s most unique and extraordinary phenomenon, holding great historical and religious significance.

Unfortunately, the Dead Sea is shrinking, and at an alarming rate. According to EcoPeace, a trilateral water protection org working between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, the Dead Sea is dropping by more than one meter every year. This catastrophic event is in need of urgent matters as the disappearance of the Dead Sea would cause a multitude of problems. Already of which is the issue of sinkholes, which is caused by the salt deposits that dissolve underground and cause massive craters in the earth’s surface.

There are two significant reasons why the Dead Sea is shrinking, and it’s entirely man-made that has little to do with climate change. Water flows from the north, into the Sea of Galilee, down the Jordan River, and eventually makes its way into the Dead Sea. However, this process is being disrupted.

First off, no freshwater is coming from the Jordan River. This is because tributaries are being blocked and Jordan and Israel are diverting the water between the two of them. Oded Rahav, an expert on the Dead Sea and the founder and CEO of the Dead Sea Guardians organization, said only 8 percent of the water flows down the Jordan River to the Dead Sea. The rest of the water is getting pulled out so it never reaches the Dead Sea. This diversion of water from the Jordan River began in the 1960s when surrounding countries learned they can access freshwater from this flow. However, this process now is entirely unsustainable and urgently needs to be discontinued.

The second reason is due to dead sea factories extracting minerals. Both Israeli and Jordanian mineral factories are contributing to this problem (I wrote about the issue of resource management between countries in my article about why international environmental law is an important career). Companies like the ICL, for example, mine the dead sea for minerals because the Dead Sea is rich in minerals such as potash, bromine, sodium chloride (salt), magnesia, magnesium chloride, and metal magnesium.

Another company, The Dead Sea Works, is vastly contributing to mineral extraction from the Dead Sea, which people like Gidon Bromberg from EcoPeace are working to stop. These detrimental human activities are profitable yet unsustainable. This mineral extraction is largely intensifying the rate of evaporation in the Dead Sea and therefore contributing to its shrinking.

Other contributors to the Dead Sea shrinking include evaporation in the summertime and increased temperatures due to climate change, but as I mentioned before, diversion and mineral extraction are the most significant reasons for the Dead Sea shrinking.

These losses are causing great damage to the landscape around the Dead Sea. “Every three days we are losing one centimeter,” Rahav told Green Prophet. These losses from the Dead Sea are risking the formation of sinkholes. Sinkholes are vast and expansive, roads are falling through, and people’s livelihoods are at risk.

Alison Ron of the Ein Gedi Kibbutz feels saddened as she watches the Dead Sea shrink away each and every day. “The Dead Sea has character” she vocalized. “It’s hard watching something you grew up with sink away”. As sinkholes continue to pop up as the years go on, it is no longer an issue that can be ignored. This is the world’s greatest, most present issue to date that will be the first thing to go. Sinkholes are now forming rapidly. Over the past 40 years, there have been more than 8,000 sinkholes have formed and they are dangerous.

Luckily, there is hope. Organizations such as EcoPeace and The Dead Sea Guardians are rising up to come up with solutions. “So much of the rest of the Middle East is so unstable for various reasons that the water crisis further feeds that instability and could be the spark for a further internal uprising,” say’s Gidon Bromberg of EcoPeace, while he deals with a number of climate crises in Israel and the Middle East.

Some actions that EcoPeace is taking in regards to the Dead Sea is registering the Dead Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This way, the Dead Sea would enlist requirements for sustainable practice and promotes regional cooperation in surrounding countries. Another EcoPeace plan of action is to rehabilitate the water that was lost and divert it back to the Jordan River. EcoPeace also aims to grant a public trust obligation to any company that wants to extract minerals from the Dead Sea. This would regulate mineral extraction in order to best preserve the sea.

Similarly, The Dead Sea Guardians is working to revive the Dead Sea through the Israeli government. The Dead Sea Guardians is trying to get the Israeli government to implement policies that would one, return water back to the Sea of Galilee and the lower Jordan River, and two, provide a framework to mineral extracting companies that would limit their volume of evaporated water that is done in their production methods.

While there are extraordinary companies working long and hard to stabilize the Dead Sea and return it to its original state, it is important that we continue to urge attention to this critical issue. There is no time to wait and this issue will not fix itself. The Dead Sea is remarkable and needs to be preserved for the rest of time.

The post The Dead Sea is Shrinking appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Dead Sea is dying. Lack of natural run-off from the River Jordan, and an ecological disaster created from mineral mining – for fertilizer – has created a situation where the Dead Sea is retreating quickly. The retreat has created an imbalance which results in dangerous sinkholes that can pop up at any time engulfing whole roads or a hotel beachfront.

Imagine creating a garbage dump in the middle of the Grand Canyon or scaling the top of off Mount Everest? In effect that’s what mineral mining is doing at the Dead Sea. And where politics and money can’t intervene Ari Leon Fruchter is hoping art will help. If you read on after the naked pics, you will see how businesses from Canada, Jordan, China and Israel are driving destruction. 

To highlight the beauty of the Dead Sea and to preserve its wonders before it is gone American-Israeli Fruchter invited his New York pal Spencer Tunick to Israel to photograph the Dead Sea in the backdrop of his iconic nude photographs.

The first Spencer photoshoot was 10 years ago and 1,200 Israelis stripped to be part of the moment. Tunick returned in 2016 and once again this week, in a less elaborate shoot, highlighted what we are losing.

“To immerse yourself in the preservation of a natural cause with one’s art is a very rewarding experience, but it also comes with the sad realization that often man-made disasters are hard to stop,” Tunick says.

“This does not mean one should not try to make a difference. With my works at the Dead Sea, I attempt to poetically visually create pushback against the loss of a natural wonder of the world. The works touch on the hope that early warnings of environmental catastrophe will spark quicker responses from people. Change does not happen in a vacuum, sometimes it takes art to spread the word.”

Fruchter, who aims to build a real-life museum at the Dead Sea, has started fundraising for a virtual one in the meantime and has raised about $50,000 for its production. He is working with towns like Arad near the Dead Sea to raise money to create a brick and mortar museum. A rendering by Neuman Hayner is below. More images can be seen here.

All the Spencer Tunick artwork until now is presented in the virtual museum, planned before any notion of Covid was in the air. The exhibition is on view through April 21, 2022 and can be visited from anywhere in the world.

Pushback against losing a natural wonder of the world

The exhibition contains photographs from 2011, 2012 and 2016, including never before seen photography from the Ein Gedi and Ein Bokek waterfalls where a group of 30 women participated.

The virtual exhibition consists of still photography, but also a video room, where a single-channel video is projected on the wall. Some well-known scenes come to life in this footage, bringing the visitor even closer to a long-gone natural environment that should still exist.

Ten years ago when Tunick created his first Dead Sea Installation his images captivated the world. Part of their appeal was an almost communal atmosphere; without clothes or any other artificial matter, the group of people transcends class, religion and nationality.

They simply appeared together in a moment in time, sharing an environment that welcomes their presence. A first glance at these images might invoke a Zen-like feeling, yet the harsh reality of the Dead Sea disappearing at a rapid pace is asking for a very different analysis. Knowing the urgency, one could also feel these people committed to a joined effort to protect the Dead Sea.

Now, time is of the essence, since the land and seascapes visible in these photographs are gone. Of course, the people in this installation moved on, too. They are a decade older; their bodies more seasoned, and their minds filled with ten additional years of experiences. Most still live, but way more alarming is that parts of the sea have perished. 

The locations in Spencer Tunick’s original 2011 installation are now unrecognizable. The water has retreated and dangerous sinkholes have transformed Mineral Beach where the shoot was done and many other places in the region. 

But the experience will show results, believes Fruchter. He tells Green Prophet: “What an incredible experience working with Spencer Tunick again in Israel for the 3rd time. In 2011 & 2016 our focus was on global awareness, hoping that the world would pay attention and do something for the Dead Sea.

“This time we came with our own plan to make a permanent change for the Dead Sea with design plans for a Dead Sea Museum in Arad. The city of Arad has embraced this and helped us produce the installation and have allocated 5.5 acres for the project, branding Arad as the gateway city to the Dead Sea.

“I was fortunate to find amazing partners to work with such as Nisan Ben Hamo, the Mayor of Arad, and Shani Senior Shiloa, the Director of the Arad Cultural Center, which helped ensure that the installation went off without any hurdles creating the best setting for Spencer Tunick and the participants to create incredible and breathtaking art together.”

Want to save the Dead Sea?

Mineral mining by the the Dead Sea Works on the Israel side, and Arab Potash on the Jordanian side, are widely known by environmentalists as the main cause for the destruction of the Dead Sea.

The companies also produce magnesium chloride, industrial salts, de-icers, bath salts, table salt, and raw materials for the cosmetic industry. The Dead Sea Works is a division of Israel Chemicals (ICL), by and large one of the most polluting companies in Israel. Arab Potash is now owned by Nutrien, a Canadian chemicals company trading on the New York Stock Exchange. 

Potash, the mineral in question here, is a main fertilizer used in industrial agriculture. The main material we need for feeding the world. Another reason why we need to push for regenerative organic agriculture. 

Earlier this year the State of Israel gave ICL even more leeway to destroy the Dead Sea, allowing the company to pump even more water than before:

“Additional millions of cubic meters will be awarded to the company over the coming years — subject to information the Water Authority has requested — to compensate for losses of water for reasons such as seepage through the floors of its evaporation pools and increasing salinity of the Dead Sea, which itself is partly a result of the commercial pumping.”

Part of the problem from the process at the Dead Sea is that rather than extracting the potash in mining, they use massive evaporation ponds. If you visit the Dead Sea in person the sight makes you want to cry. Below see how the evaporation pools have expanded from 1972 to 2011. About half of the Dead Sea has become an eyesore. It continues to retreat about a meter a year.

A brief history of Dead Sea profiteering

The Dead Sea was Cleopatra’s beauty secret, but the decision to start mining it for potash and destroying the world’s natural wonder may be blamed on the British.

Today who owns the Dead Sea looks confusing. When companies are bundled up in conglomerates it’s hard to know which actual companies and stakeholders are profiting from the Dead Sea destruction. A quick answer is ICL and Nutrien, based in Canada.

Already back in 1929, with British backing, the Dead Sea was estimated to be worth $4 billion pounds sterling, and an asset that “3 million Jews” settling the land should exploit, according to Sir Herbert Samuel, if they moved there under the British Mandate. That money could pay for the damages caused in the first world war, was his marketing pitch.

Under the British administration, concessions were given January 1, 1930, to extract salts and minerals in the Dead Sea. 

On the surface of things, Israel and Jordan still share the land rights over the Dead Sea, which has been the biggest industrial site in the Middle East since the late 1920s. Dead Sea Works was founded by the State of Israel in 1952 as a state-owned enterprise. According to Wikipedia Dead Sea works extract 1.7 million tons of potash annually.

Arab Potash, owned by Jordan and formed in 1956 produces 2 million tons of potash. This company is now majorly owned by Nutrien, from Canada. 

Both sides are equally destroying the Dead Sea but no doubt are partnered in a delicate political manoeuvre now involving multinational congomerates. 

Who owns the Dead Sea today?

The short answer is Israel Corporation, owned by Idan Ofer, and Arab Potash, which is no longer a Jordanian company but controlled by a Canadian company called Nutrien trading on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. So if you want to lobby, fight for environmental justice, scream, petition, or get naked: these are the top level stakeholders. Israelis living in London and New York, possibly Monaco, and on a yacht somewhere, and a multinational company trading out of Toronto and the Big Apple.

And this is why environmental protection is so hard to do at the local level.  

But we will break it down a bit more if you want to dig deeper. Because we trust there will be some next-level environmental geeks reading this. 

Israel and the Dead Sea

Israel Corporation

Israel’s largest holding company. Its holdings are fertilizers and specialty chemicals, energy, shipping and transportation. Israel Corp trades on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. It owns Israel Chemicals (now ICL Group),Oil Refineries Ltd, Tower Semiconductor, Kenon Holdings and Zim Integrated Shipping Services. A majority stake, 55%, is owned by a private family, The Ofer Family. The rest 18% is owned by a bank and the remaining is traded publicly.

ICL Group

ICL owns the Dead Sea Works. It greenwashes its operations at the Dead Sea by saying its company the Dead Sea Works is creating a salt wall, a “circular economy” in accordance with nature protection. It uses wording on its website like “sustainable agriculture:. 

Jordan and the Dead Sea

Arab Potash is just as responsible for Dead Sea destruction as Israel. The Arab Potash Company (APC) is a company that is primarily involved in harvesting minerals from the Dead Sea. It is the eighth largest potash producer worldwide by volume of production and the sole Arab producer of potash.

The company was formed in 1956 in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan as a pan-Arab business venture and it has a 100-year concession (1958-2058) from the government of Jordan that grants it exclusive rights to extract, manufacture and market minerals from the Dead Sea.

It is headquartered in Amman and has its main plants at Ghor Al Safi. The company’s stock is listed on the Amman Stock Exchange’s ASE Weighted Index. It sold its major shares to a company in Canada that merged with another company, making it impossible to really see who owns anything anymore. But we did some tracing. 

Canada and the Dead Sea

There was rumor a few years ago that Canada’s Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (which later merged to Nutrien trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange) wanted to buy the Dead Sea Works. The deal didn’t go through. But PotashCorp (now Nutrien) holds nearly 27.7 percent, but a controlling stake of Arab Potash; the Jordanian government, through the Jordan Investment Corporation, holds more than 26.8 percent, and the Arab Mining Company, which holds more than 19.5 percent. 

According to Simply WallStreet institutional investors own over 50% of Nutrien, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions.  First Eagle Investment Management, LLC owned by Blackstone is currently the largest shareholder in Nutrien, with 3.5% of shares. 

Nutrien offers an impressive ESG report. No mention of the Dead Sea in the extensive PDF. If it goes offline you can download it here (ESG Report 2021-NUTRIEN 2). Nurtien is now, thanks to the Dead Sea, and recent mergers in the last few years, the largest potash supplier on the planet.

China and the Dead Sea

Ahava, a beauty products company was sold in a majority stake deal to China company Fosun for about $76 million USD is a player in mineral mining for the beauty industry. The company was stalked by the BDS movement so it sold to China to avoid the backlash. It is the only company with commercial rights to harvest mud from the Dead Sea. You can find their products in Walmart.

____

We know you came here for “naked” and not necessarily saving the Dead Sea. So…

More on the Naked Dead Sea project:
Why I got Naked for the Dead Sea
Strip Naked for the Dead Sea
A Thousand Israelis Get Naked for the Dead Sea
New Life Found in the Dead Sea

The post Spencer Tunick nudes pose to save the Dead Sea appeared first on Green Prophet.

Our favorite peace-water NGO Friends of the Earth Middle East have just held a conference in Jordan last week and there had faith leaders sign the “Covenant for the Jordan River” to save the Jordan River.

“As written in the Holy Koran, water is the source of all creation. It is taught in Islam that water is the right of everyone. Islam teaches us to respect water, not to waste it and not to pollute it,” said Dr. Sabri, Mofti of Al Quds and the Holy Land, representing the Muslim faith at the event.

After years of on the ground peace-building the NGO has gone the way of faith and has managed to get faith leaders: Jewish, Muslim and Christian from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan to sign up to save the great River Jordan.

Well, actually the great River Jordan is really an under-statement. The river has seen better days.

A locally-run NGO has sprung to action: During a region wide conference held by EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) on the Northern shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan last week, senior clerics and representatives from the three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – gathered together to learn about the current state of the Lower Jordan River and to endorse the Covenant for the Jordan River calling on regional governments to work together towards its rehabilitation.

The Lower Jordan River, holy to the three religions, once boasted a lush wetland ecosystem that was the biological heart of the Valley.

Sadly, the once “deep and wide” river has been highly demised over the past 50 years.

Diversion of 96% of the River’s waters for domestic and agricultural uses has left precious little fresh water for the river and its once thriving ecosystem. Sewage (like what I saw here), agricultural runoff and highly saline streams are allowed to flow into the Jordan, polluting its waters and causing a drop by half of the river’s biodiversity.

According to a recent economic report published by FoEME, the touristic potential of the Lower Jordan, if rehabilitated, could bring significant increased religious tourism to the region.

They determined religion could start a call to action.

Faith Based ‘Toolkits’ for Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities were presented at the regional conference, giving an introduction to the issue of the demise of the Jordan River as well as suggestions for how communities can act to support the river’s rehabilitation.

More in-depth ‘Sourcebooks’ are also available, offering a rich collection of scripture, sermons, essays and poems, songs and other tools to help leaders of each faith to engage their communities on the need to rehabilitate the River.

Here’s a sum up of what leaders from each of the faiths had to say:

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp: President and Founder of the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values, The Hague, Netherlands: “A quiet revolution is taking place. This is the first time in history that we are speaking in one voice towards the River Jordan. Humanity, like the river, is one body – when one part of the body is hurt; all humanity suffers, as the River Jordan suffers.”

Attallah Hanna, Archbishop of Roman Orthodox: “We all believe in one God and it is our duty as believers to maintain the environment. God has blessed us in our region because it is a river who gives sanctity and beauty. Hence our duty to defend the river and maintain the river.”

Here here!

The post Religions Sign On to Save the River Jordan appeared first on Green Prophet.

First observed around the Dead Sea in the 1980s, geologist Eli Raz estimates that today there are over 3,000 on the Israeli side alone.  “Sinkholes are caused by human irresponsibility,” he told Slate Magazine, “For more than 30 years, I’ve been trying to warn everyone—especially government officials—that if we don’t do something about the situation in the Dead Sea, the sinkholes will swallow us up.”

The Dead Sea (which is technically a lake fed by the Jordan River) spans more than 60 miles. Its shorelines include Jordan, the West Bank, and Israel.  Located 1,388 feet below sea level, it’s the lowest place on earth, and with no outlet for minerals deposited over millennia, its waters have become ten times saltier than the north Atlantic.

In the past half century, the populations of Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories have ballooned from 5 million to over 20 million. Along with Syria and Lebanon, these thirsty nations pull water from the Jordan River and its tributaries, cutting flow to the Dead Sea to less than 26 billion gallons per year compared to 343 billion gallons a century back.

Next, factor in Dead Sea industries like the Israel Chemicals Company and the Jordanian Arab Potash Company.  To support their mineral extraction processes, these companies extract enormous volumes of seawater, accounting for about 40% of the water level decrease.

As a result, the Dead Sea is shrinking over three feet a year and receding from the shore at an even greater clip. There are loads of videos to be found online showing the changes: the one below is short, vivid, and refreshingly void of conspiracy theories and New Age prophecy:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/3x2JlBctc7Y[/youtube]

Several nations have jurisdictions over the Sea, so remedies are fraught with international complexity.  Ongoing debate undermines action. And doing nothing is the worst alternative of all.

Signs in Hebrew, English, and Arabic warn to beware of sinkholes. Raz laughs, “How can you be careful? No one knows where the next one will open up. It’s only a matter of time until we have to leave this entire area.”

To date, no one has yet died in an Israeli sinkhole, but there have been serious injuries.  Sinkholes are a direct threat to agriculture and tourism, the main livelihoods of the kibbutzim and entire Dead Sea region.  Jordan is also investing heavily in regional tourism, and the Palestinians plan to develop resorts in their future state.

The unique Dead Sea natural habitat is also at risk as the surrounding ecosystem includes spring-fed oases that support a rich range of plant and animal wildlife.

How can an environmental catastrophe be averted? One possibility is a World Bank plan to replenish the Dead Sea with water from the Red Sea.  Environmentalists warn that the ecological effects of the long-touted Red-Dead project might drive the nail in the sea’s coffin.

Raz prefers to see the Dead Sea’s problems solved by rehabilitating the Jordan River and utilizing desalination to supply water to Israel’s densely populated Mediterranean coast.  But something must be done, and done now.

“Water should not be a reason for conflict—there isn’t enough to argue about, certainly not in the Dead Sea basin. Water should be the reason for smart, regional cooperation.” says Raz, “There’s an expression from the army: ‘If we can’t hang onto each other, we’ll be hung next to each other.’ But no one seems to get it.”

The post Mysterious Sinkholes Threaten to Sink the Dead Sea appeared first on Green Prophet.

Christian pilgrims to Israel may be thrilled to have a chance to bathe in the historic Jordan River, believed to be the original baptismal river of Jesus. It’s clean, safe and totally free.

Pilgrims arrive to the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee (where mysterious objects are still being found) at Yardanit, get off the bus and within a few hundred yards are themselves in the river in white robes.

I can understand the appeal but was put off by the whole idea that these pilgrims aren’t really baptizing in a river, but a standing pool created for tourism. The real river actually starts as a sewage pump outlet further downstream.

A series of dams on the Sea of Galilee block water from flowing to the River Jordan. The story is really sad. What ends up in the real “river” is effluent and all types of waste, and those brave souls who disregard the warning and dip into the water on the Jordan side far downstream are taking their lives into their hands.

By the time this wastewater flows down to its final destination it is merely a trickle of sewage, if it reaches the end at all.

This is what I learned a few years ago while on a Jordan River tour with the eco group Friends of the Earth Middle East. (That’s me above checking out the sewage pipe at the Jordan River’s source).

Local newspapers are now reporting that the Israeli Government along with various interest groups have decided to turn on a pump from the Sea of Galilee to restore the Jordan River’s native habitat. Some 1000 cubic meters of water will be pumped into the river every hour.

Recharging the Jordan River is a great idea our friends at Friends of the Earth maintain, but much more water will be necessary to bring it up to healthy levels, they assess.

They say that some 30 million cubic meters a year will not be enough to renew the Lower Jordan River. Something magnitudes bigger, 400 and 600 cubic meters would be needed for restoration, and Israel should allot 220 million cubic meters to do its part. It should be noted that the Jordan River is shared between three major stakeholders: Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. Peace making over a river important to all people is a very easy way to start real peace efforts on the ground.

The post The Real Jordan River Will Flow from the Sea of Galilee Once Again appeared first on Green Prophet.

Approximately 5,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March last year, according to UN estimates, and an additional 600 detainees and political prisoners have died under torture. And yet there is a force at work that is just as sinister as President Bashar al-Assad, who calmly told ABC’s Barbara Walters that he was unaware of the torture taking place in his country. It’s name? Climate change. 

The dangers of climate change

The National Project Director of the Initial National Communication of the Syrian Arab Republic, Dr. Yousef Meslmani wrote an op-ed for Syria Today of the dangers that climate change poses to the country.

At the end of December, Syria launched its first “water-scarcity” park to highlight the dangers of desertification and water mismanagement. Meslmani notes that climate change will exacerbate existing problems and cites the following disturbing statistics.

“New studies show it [climate change] has already led to significant regional crop reductions: of 30 percent for rice, 47 percent for corn and 20 percent for wheat,” he wrote, adding that “the very shape of the Fertile Crescent, of which Syria is a part, will change, and that it might even vanish completely.”

The famous springs of Damascus are dry

According to Meslmani, the Euphrates and Jordan Rivers will lose up to 70% of their annual flow as a result of low rainfall, making sustainable development even harder to attain. Without water and food, the risk of famines (like the one experienced in the Horn of Africa) is likely to increase.

Already 500,000 residents of the country’s dry northeastern region have fled their homes because of water scarcity, 1.3 million more have been impacted by serious droughts, and the famed springs of Damascus have dried up.

By 2100, a combination of diminishing rainfall and high temperatures will render this country borderline unlivable if serious measures to combat climate change and fix water management issues are not taken. This in turn will worsen the country’s already fractious political situation. Meslmani writes,

Climate change will affect land use patterns, accelerate the pace of land degradation, and increase the risks of drought, heat waves and dust storms. Indeed, these have already become a reality for people living in the eastern parts of the country. Low-level areas of the Syrian coast are also expected to be flooded by seawater.

Climate change may not have weapons of war. Climate change may not have a torture chamber. But this phenomenon causes by accelerated levels of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere could be just as ruthless as any dictator.

:: Syria Today

More on climate change in the Middle East:

Wintertime Droughts Increase Because of Climate Change

The Horn of Africa Famine: A Cautionary Tale for MENA

500,000 Syrians Flee Drought-Stricken Zone

The post Climate Change Could be as Dangerous to Syria as Bashar al-Assad appeared first on Green Prophet.

Water pollution in Israeli lakes, streams and groundwater aquifers is reaching alarming levels. Although the country has regulations in place to prevent discharges, including a comprehensive Water Law, contamination is commonplace. And now scientists are finding that water quality problems threaten both wildlife and human health.

The lutra, a cousin of the otter found in lakes and rivers throughout Northern Israel, is in danger of extinction. Hunting is one of the threats to this fish-eating swamp dweller. Guest workers, mostly from Thailand, have been responsible for a great deal of lutra poaching. Arriving from areas in Southeast Asia where unrestricted wildlife trapping is the norm, these workers often clash with Israel’s stricter protections.

However, the more pervasive danger for the lutra is polluted water flowing through its habitat. In a recent study published in the Israeli journal Ecology & Environment, scientists reported that low water quality and lack of flow in the Jordan River has nearly wiped out the lutra south of Lake Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee). The population north of the lake is relatively stable, but its disappearance in other areas has shocked ecologists.

Additionally, industrial waste from factories in the Rotem Plain has been leaching into groundwater near Ein Bokek Nature Reserve for almost two decades. Ein Bokek is one of the most important reserves in Israel, hosting a myriad species of animals and plants.

Environmentalists filed a lawsuit shortly after the pollution was discovered. The Water Tribunal in Haifa eventually mediated a settlement agreement between NGOs, industrial facilities and the water company. Pursuant to that plan, the water company would pump out contaminated water and the Dead Sea Works would decontaminate it.

Despite this comprehensive treatment plan, however, Nature and Parks Authority ecologists Michael Blecher and Orna Blecher recently reported that the overall number of plant species in Ein Bokek is declining. They were particularly concerned about the disappearance of doellia bovei, a rare plant threatened with extinction.

Tests conducted by the Geological Survey of Israel determined that salinity levels are six times greater than before the industrial waste was discovered. But the companies and the Water Authority maintain they have executed their responsibilities as stipulated in the Water Tribunal agreement.

Finally, Israeli scientists recently presented findings that link pollution with autism. Diagnoses of the disorder have risen sharply in recent years. Scientists now believe that exposure to toxins such as lead, mercury and pesticides could account for 25 percent of that increase.

These pollutants are particularly dangerous for young children due to the way they alter brain development. According to Dr. Tamar Berman of Israel’s Health Ministry, two percent of drinking water samples exceed the maximum allowable levels of lead. Even this modest exceedance is dangerous due to lead’s serious impact on child development.

How has Israel’s water policy failed to prevent these problems? Lack of enforcement, sluggish political will and information gaps are the main culprits.

The country’s Clean Air Act came into effect last year. What about revamping the Water Law? Passed in 1959, this legislation needs to be updated to include proper contaminant classification, water quality guidelines that protect human health and the environment, and effective enforcement provisions. Such improvements could also reign in unchecked agricultural runoff and preserve the quality of Israel’s aquifers, which have suffered considerably in the last 50 years.

As for the embattled lutra, relief may be coming soon. The Environment Ministry has promised to release 1 billion cubic feet of water to restore the Jordan River in 2013. This influx of fresh water will help dilute sewage flows. Although environmentalists claim the amount falls short of a full restoration, it’s a good start. And it’s a step toward cleaner habitat for the lutra and other wildlife.

Image via zabdiel

The post Water Pollution in Israel Threatens People, Animals, Plants appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Dead Sea is again in environmental headlines as a project to remove salt accumulations from the lakes southern portions have passed preliminary readings in Israel’s parliament.  The salt removal project would be largely paid for by the Dead Sea Works, with the profits derived from the sale of the extracted minerals to be placed in a special rehabilitation fund. This project comes on the heels of warnings by environmentalists that the hotels located in this portion of the Dead Sea could be  flooded by the ironically rising waters .

Salt build up causes water to rise

This salt build up problem is linked to a Jordan Times article stating that the Dead Sea is losing water by the amount of 30 meters a year, with the fear that the lake will dry up entirely by the year 2050.

The article adds that although the construction of a conduit between the Dead and Red Sea is “technically possible” it is full of environmental dangers, much of which could occur during the construction of the conduit itself. Feasibility studies authorized by the World Bank,  dealing with the impact of mixing the highly saline Dead Sea waters with that of the less saline Red Sea, have been ongoing for more than two years  and are still inconclusive.

These studies have been criticized  by groups such as Friends of the Earth Middle East  (FOEME) whose Israel Director, Gideon Bromberg, says that the World Bank study needs more time in order to reach a satisfactory conclusion regarding the construction of the conduit project.

Bromberg’s FOEME non-profit still believes that the best solution for replenishing the waters of the Dead Sea is to bring water through the Lower Jordan River, now nothing more than a sewage canal.

Getting a whiff of Jordan River’s sewage

Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority  have considered the conveyance project as a way to bring much needed water into the Dead sea.

If this project is completed, at a cost of more than 8 billion dollars and in at least a 20 year time frame, the hoped for increase in the lake’s water levels will hopefully bring it up to – 315 below sea level instead of its present – 408 meters.

A series of public consultation meetings will be held in Israel, Jordan and Palestine during 2012. Locations of these meetings, in which the general public will be invited to voice their opinions include Amman, Aqaba, Eilat, Jerusalem, Jericho, and Ramallah. As stated by the World Bank spokesperson:

“The objective of the public consultations is to receive feedback and suggestions from stakeholders on the draft results and preliminary findings of the study program. These comments will then be taken into account in the final reports.”

Read more on Dead Sea issues, including the Jordan River:
Time Running Out for Saving Dead Sea Hotels
Unholy Waters: The Jordan River is Nearly Dead
Despite everything, Dead Sea Still a Popular Tourist Destination
Jordan, Israeli and Palestinian Reps Meet to Jumpstart Controversial Red-Dead Canal

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