The second annual meeting of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) took place this past Thursday and Friday, this time with a harsh warning. That we are not doing enough to prevent environmental catastrophe in the Middle East. Drawing together a versified group of delegates from the Middle East and North Africa, AFED […]
Lebanon’s Harissa Forest is only 400 square hectares in size, but it is considered one of ten Mediterranean forest attractions from a sheer beauty and conservation standpoint. Located on a hillside above the predominantly Christian city of Jounieh, the more than 1,000 year old forest had been threatened by real estate developers and construction contractors […]
The Middle East as a region does not need any help fueling conflicts. Unfortunately, it does that pretty well on its own. Which is why the future threat of water scarcity in the region is not only an environmental concern, but a scary political scenario as well. Water scarcity in a geographic area notorious for […]
No red carpets for us environment-lovers, stupid! The typical Hollywood movie premiere is a scenario that we’re all pretty familiar with: celebrities pull up to the red carpet in large, gas-guzzling cars (what would happen if Brad Pitt and George Clooney carpooled in a Smart Car for a change?), pose for the photographers, and then […]
Participation by news and information media in helping the environment was one of the main issues discussed in a conference which opened last Wednesday at the UN ‘s regional UNESCO headquarters in Beirut. The use of various media resources to promote the preservation and protection of the environment in Lebanon and elsewhere was discussed […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5kg1oOq9tY[/youtube] We’ve already written about how Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) has joined forces with 350.org, an international campaign that hopes to inspire the world to create a sense of urgency among world leaders for changing policies that would effect climate change. They have been organizing a climate change protest to take place […]
London fashion week show viewers may have been shocked earlier this week when London-based Lebanese designer Ziad Ghanem’s line came down the runway. Initiated by a video introduction asking the viewers to break free from consumerism and follow their own hearts, repeating the line “I lost my head the day I found my heart,” the […]
Plant pathologist Norman Borlaug, 95, died this Saturday, raising questions about the legacy of industrial food in the Third World. In 1970, Borlaug received a Nobel Peace Prize for averting famine through bringing fertilizers, pesticides and new plant strains to countries like India, Mexico and Pakistan. But environmentalists argue that his plant engineering only delayed […]
Summer is always hot in the Middle East, but this season has gotten really fiery in Lebanon, where blazes have damaged over 15 million square meters of forest since June. The Lebanese Daily Star reports that farmers who burn their land after clearing it don’t take note of wind and dry conditions that quickly spiral […]
Although Lebanon’s Christian and Muslim communities live in an uneasy balance, a trendy farmers market has helped bring the nation’s diverse groups together to sell traditional food. According to Agence France-Presse, 47 families sell fruit, vegetables, preserves and bread in Beirut’s Souq El Tayeb, the first farmers market in the country. Chef and TV personality […]
A study released last week shows that more than one in five Israeli schoolchildren is overweight. According to Haaretz, the towns Nahariya (37%), Bat Yam (34%), Or Yehuda (32.6%), Tira (31.1%) and Kalansawa (31%) lead the list. In the Hebrew edition of the same article, a health specialist chalks up the trend to the unsurprising […]
According to Lebanon’s Daily Star, the war-ravaged southern town of Bint Jbeil is remaking itself as a suburban summer getaway for expatriates who left over the last three decades of strife. Suburban living has made deep imprints across the Middle East, particularly in the shopping malls that have sprouted up in the West Bank and […]
(Lebanese fishermen in southern Tyre clean their catch. Photo from AFP.) Southern Lebanese fishermen say their catch has slumped from 88 pounds a day in the 60s and 70s to a measly three or four-pound daily take because of aggressive dynamite fishing, overfishing and pollution. According to a report published by AFP, the Lebanese marine […]
Plastic bags are evil. They are not biodegradable, pollute our landfills, pollute our waterways, convince fish and ducks that they’re food… it’s pretty well established that they’re just bad news. While activists encourage consumers to try using fewer bags, or sometimes try to ban the use of plastic bags entirely, the truth is that these […]
Alfa, Lebanon’s chief mobile phone service company, is now operating on solar energy to power its transmission network. The company recently installed its fifth solar powered station in the Hourata Reserve, and the station’s new solar powered generator is expected to be in full power by next month. Alfa, a state owned communications company, managed […]