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The Environmental Problems Mohammed Al Oudat
Introduction: This progress became threatened with the environmental hasards. In fact, the lack of water, the deterioration of agricultural lands, the shortage of public utilities (drainage and sewerage system), plus, air and water pollution, all these problems threaten the capacities of the economical progress and the population's growth. Also, impose high economical and human costs because of illness and early death.
Although The Syrian form of growth, which implied the local sufficiency of food production and fast fabrication, imposed an increasing pressure on natural resources. Actually, since the 60ies, various agricultural investments of intensive production and industrial projects were processed, such as, cement, steel, chemical fertilizers, food industry, power stations, oil refineries and others. This strategy of growth, which was directed to fulfill the needs of the population's growth and its fast increase, did not take into account the importance of preserving the natural resources and its proper use. Therefore, the inappropriate agricultural methods, the populations settlement in limited areas and the unsuitable administration of water usage caused the loss of water resources and the excessive consumption of grasslands. On the other hand, the productive grasslands were transformed into planted lands of non-continuous productive crops. Meanwhile, the excessive use of chemical fertilizers contaminated the superficial water' resources. Besides, the littoral regions went under an increasing pressure, which, negatively, affected the quality of water, and consequently, tourism. In the urban regions, pollution threatens health, nowadays, because the technological precautions, which decrease the industrial pollution, were scarcely considered. Besides, it was allowed to disregard the International environmental standards and provisions by leaving still the old industries of high pollution working on. Furthermore, the use of old engines' vehicles with its incomplete combustion of fuel increased the air pollution in the urban regions.
The Environmental Pressures in - The condition of water resources is very critical. The superficial and groundwater resources are almost consumed. Thus, some regions suffer a severe shortage of drinking water in the arid years and some others lack the safe drainage water because, only, a limited percentage of water is treated. In addition, most of sewerage is thrown away in rivers and seawater, which affected the quality of river's water and seawater. - Around 40% of cities' inhabitants inhale polluted air due to the high contamination of industries, old cars with improper engines for fuel use, leaded fuel (except Damascus) and oil, which contains a high percentage of sulfur. - The deterioration of natural resources, such as, the soil erosion, the retreat of natural forests, the loss of biodiversity and the salinity of agricultural lands, form an extended problem. - Contamination and the unorganized growth threaten the unique heritage of old civilizations in various sites that assist the national economy income through the proceeds of tourism.
The actual condition is reflected in high
economical costs, especially, that some of these pressures are unable to
be corrected and may affect the growth in the future through the decline
of soil productivity and the human's health deterioration. The
estimations of the Natural Strategy of Environment in year 2000
clarified that the yearly costs, which result from the environmental
collapse in Syria, ranged from 29 to 32 milliards (SP) Syrian pounds in
1997 (690 to 890 millions US dollars). These amounts would increase to
ranged from 46 to 54 milliards (SP) in the year 2005 (1.2 to 1.7
milliard Air quality: Abu Al Bakaa Abdullah Al Badri, a scientist of the 9th century of Hegira, mentions in his book "Nazhat Al Anam Fi Mahasen Al Sham" that some of Al Sham' charms (the old city of Damascus) are 'the Hawakeer' which look like gardens at the bottom of kasion mountain. Being higher than yazeed river's level, thus, the wheels were used for irrigating these gardens. Basil and roses were planted on purpose, so that the passing breath will carry its aromatic scent into the inhabitants of the city below.
What remained of Al Sham's beauties now?
What happened to its air which carried the scent of
The restricted measures, which were made
in some principal cities, refer to the improper standard of air, mainly,
because of the transport's pollution as in
Frame 1: The environmental problems in
The Measures showed that the number of
days in which the average of the daily primary pollutants (sulfur and
nitrogen oxides) in Damascus city increased than the permitted limits,
according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) by 25% in 1989,
furthermore, this average augmented to 50% in 1995. The same measures
were processed in
Frame 2: The expected costs of the
environmental collapse in In addition to the primary pollutants in most Syrian cities that result from the fossil fuel combustion, whether in industry or transport vehicles, there is, also, the smog phenomenon. The smog results from the reaction of the primary pollutants, especially, nitrogen oxides and oxygen with hydrocarbonates and sulfur dioxide under the effect of ultra violet rays. This smog beclouds the sky of cities, mainly, during the morning rush hours. On the other hand, the reaction of the primary pollutants produces a combination of secondary dangerous pollutants, especially, Ozone, and peroxyacetyle nitrate (PAN) which are called photochemical oxidants. Actually, these combinations have severe bad effects on health, such as, throat and brain infections, eye irritation, Asthma, lung infections, cough and others. Accordingly, the National Strategy of Environment estimated the costs of air pollution in 1997 ranged between 1.2 and 3 milliards SP. Moreover, If no proper procedures are taken, the costs are expected to reach from 3 to 10 milliards SP in 2005 (Frame 2).
The worst air pollution is found in
certain cities of The influence of pollution on the historical heritage:
Air pollution does not, only, affect
health, but the archeological heritage as well. The Syrian heritage of
old civilizations has an international importance. Four main sites were
included within the list of the international heritage ( The National Strategy of Environment's report of year 2000 points out the dangerous decline of these ancient sites due to the unawareness of their values and the abuse of its investment. Also, the changes of the surrounding lands' use beside the improper methods of the regular and the irregular building constructions around affect these sites badly.
In addition, the air pollution, harmfully,
affects these ancient sites. Actually, Sulfur oxides interact with
nitrogen oxides and oxygen under the influence of water vapor and ultra
violet rays and transform these oxides into sulfur acid and nitrogen
acid which remain as fine mist in the air that are carried by the wind
from one place to another. These acids interact with calcium carbonate,
which is the essential component of the historical monuments' stones,
transforming it into gypsum. The gypsum solidity is technically weak and
frail, thus, it breaks and crumbles easily. Therefore, air pollution
causes the loss of invaluable ancient monuments. Beside air pollution,
dust is another harmful factor, which erodes and ruins these inherited
monuments. Also, the charcoal smoke which blackens
the archeological monuments. In fact, a big part of these
historical monuments are located in crowded areas and heavy traffic,
such as Bab Tuma, Bab Sharki in
Although the number of cars in
The Ministry of Transport's statistics in
1994 indicated that more than 60% of cars are 12 years old and 26% of
cars are more than 24 years old. As it is known, an old car produces
pollutants from 10 to 20 times more than a new fabricated one. However,
the quality of the fuel has an important role of increasing the air
pollution. For example, the used diesel oil in There are other factors that assist the high level of pollution like, narrow streets, especially, in the old districts, which are difficult to be cleaned and ventilated. In addition, the decline of the green areas, the deterioration of the surrounding regions of cities, the change of land's use due to the expanding constructions and desertification, all these factors increase the environmental hazards. Particulates: The particulates are considered the most common air pollutants, mainly, in arid and semi - arid, industrial and crowded traffic areas. These particulates are consisted of a mixture of solid particles and fluid drops of various consistencies, sources and sizes. The bad influence of the particulates depends on their sizes. Thus, the particulates with a diameter less than 2.5-micron cause a severe dangerous health effects because it penetrates the respiration system and reaches lung's alveolus. The particulates are, usually, the result of fossil fuel combustion, such as, soot and other particles of secondary sources, which result from chemical reactions of nitrate and sulfurs. These particulates are coated with poisoned mineral elements such as Lead, Cadmium and others. The particulates lead to many dangerous diseases of the respiratory system like Asthma, cough and bronchitis, consequently, pulmonary emphysema and cardiology failure. The International World Health Organization's studies clarify that each casual increase of the less than 10 micron particulates concentration, which equals 50 microgram/m3, raise the deaths' percentage of heart and lung diseases from 2 to 8%. The recent studies confirm that the particulates contamination is one of the greatest problems in most developing countries, besides, it is responsible for 7 to 10% of children's deaths of pulmonary disease, in the less polluted cities, and 21% in the polluted ones with particulates.
What is the real situation in
The new measures refer to the high
contamination of particulates, whether total or fine sizes, in most
Syrian cities (look frame 3). The average of the total particulates
concentration is between 213 to 430 microgram/m3 in
This condition is not, only, found in big
cities but, also, in smaller and medium cities as well, such as, The high concentration of particulates which its diameter is less than 10 Micron and those of a diameter which is less than 3-micron are the worst pollutants because the human's respiratory immune system cannot resist it. Actually, these pollutants penetrate the respiratory system and reach into the depth of the lungs because their concentrations are 2 to 4 times higher than the permitted limit, which is 70 microgram/m3. On the other hand, the particulates with a diameter that is less than 2.5-micron, which affect the health very badly, have an extremely, high concentration which exceed the suggested limits many more times. The most important reasons for these high concentrations are due to soil erosion, the decline of the plant cover in the surrounding areas of cities, besides, the transport's old vehicles, the different industries inside or around cities, roads' constructions and traffic. Cement industry is another important factor, which assist the increase of particulates concentration (frame 4). The studies of the last few years indicated that these concentrations of dust cement factory area or the surrounding areas are much more higher than the permitted average and it affects health and other ecosystem's components badly, especially, soil and plants. The measures of 1999 in the surrounding areas of Tartus' Cement Factory cleared that the quantity of dust sediments on olive trees was about 5 to 17 times higher than in the other far areas from the factory. This high contamination, of course, ruined plenty of the surrounding olive trees, which became unproductive. The half diameter of the affected area by the Cement factory reaches about 5 kilometer. The harmful influence did not, only, affect olive trees but all the other crops as well. Furthermore, it affected tourism and created many health problems. Already, the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, who live near the Cement factory, are complaining of pathological symptoms, especially, Asthma, beside pulmonary and other diseases. Frame No.3: The concentration of particulates in some Syrian cities (microgram/mژ3گ) Frame No.4: The concentration of particulates which result from the Cement industry. (Microgram/mژ3گ) Solid waste:
The information of 1995 pointed that the
solid waste in the Syrian cities reached about 6000 ton/day, which mean
0.4 kg/person/day. In the year 2000, the solid waste of the whole
regions of The major part of the collected solid wastes from the Syrian cities, towns and villages (its national strategy for environment's capacity is 5000 ton/day) is left in open waste dumps which are located, in most cases, not much far from the residential areas. Consequently, a lots of problems came out, mainly:
1) Many tramps delve into solid waste to
collect some elements, such as, organic ingredients that could be edible
for poultry and animals' feeding, bread remainders, metallic and plastic
objects. The searching starts in the trashcans before deporting the
waste into the open dumps. Naturally, the tramps are exposed to many
health problems, besides, more difficulties
arise for collecting and deporting the garbage. Although tramping is
legally prohibited, delving into the garbage became a common view in
many cities. Actually, more than 10 thousand tramps exist in 2) Solid waste contaminated the superficial and groundwater as a results of fermentation of the organic components. 3) The open dumps form a suitable climate for the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, flies, mosquitoes, reptilian insects and rodents, also, roaming animals like dogs and cats, beside the stinking smell. Fires in the open dumps present a real problem and, sometimes, it is difficult to control it. More often, most of the dumps burst into flames and produce smoke, which contaminates the surrounding environment. In addition to the offensive smell, the flying dust and the scattering trash, such as, paper and plastic bags, which spread into a broad area around the open dumps, cause an environmental contamination and undesirable views. Worst of all, the medical disposals are still collected together with the solid waste in all Syrian cities, except Damascus, which started new efforts to collect medical disposals separately, excluding, some private hospitals that do not adhere to this rule. The quantities of the medical disposals in Syria reach about 3600 ton per year, added to that, the clinic's disposals and the specialized medical centers which include dangerous medical disposals, such as, tissues, human limbs, removed bodily parts, contaminated pads, sharp tools, syringes, chemical elements and others. It is, obviously, clear that the solid waste are very dangerous, especially, if some trashcans include medical disposals which might the tramps delve into it searching for glass and plastic objects. The resulting mess of the scattered trash contaminates soil and air, moreover, it causes the propagation of mosquitoes, flies, various insects and rodents which transmit the contamination into wider areas. Frame No. 5: The quantity of the resulting
solid
waste in Lead: The Lead became, at present, one of the most important heavy elements, which contaminates the external environment and the work-field atmosphere. The transport vehicles, which use leaded fuel, are the main sources of contaminated air by lead and responsible for more than 90% of lead's pollution. In addition, the metal industries, especially, batteries' fabrication, assist to the increase of environmental pollution. The Lead causes sever health problems. It combines with the enzymes and decreases the haem biosynthesis and causes the brain, kidney and sexual organs poisoning, besides, the hypertension and the cardiac disorder. Furthermore, it decreases the children's intelligence and affects their behaviors toward more aggressiveness, beside the lack of concentration and the less attention for their schoolwork.
The concentrations of lead in some areas
of Frame No.6 The Lead concentration in some regions
of
Noise: Years before, the Syrian cities were calm and quiet except from the voices of passing peddlers, sounds of some manual crafts and few crossing cars. These conditions changed completely. Now a day, many urban regions, even small villages have high levels of loud noises that exceed the permitted limits.
The level of external noises at the
streets of The big differences between noises' levels from one moment to another are very dangerous. These differences reach some times 28-30 Decibel because of the sudden bruit as a result of cars' horns, motorcycles, buses, Trucks and other vehicles of transportation. The measures pointed out that the levels of noise remain high until late hours at night. It is known that the high levels of noise have bad health effects, such as, the exhaustion of the hearing sense, the retardation and incapability of the auditory sense, the contraction of the blood veins, the hypertension and the insomnia. These influences lower people's function, especially whose works demand more attention and accuracy. Children, students and sick people are sensitive to high levels of loud noise. Therefore, a standard measure of noise's levels was imposed for schools and hospitals, in which does not exceed the average of 45 Decibel. Nature in the Cities: The constructions of cities were and still associated with the complete destruction of nature and its characteristics of plants, animals and others. This means that a city's construction is a desertification act due to the absence of normal environment in it. Plants continued to form an important role in the old cities and suburbs, which enabled chances for the residents of cities to relieve and relax from the pressure of the urban life. Besides, plants provide a cover, which insure the shadow and help to absorb dust, also, lower the gaseous contamination and loud noise. Therefore, the institutions of Municipalities in the world paid a special attention to beautify cities and expand the planting of trees and flowers in the streets and roads, also, expanding the establishments of public parks, gardens and increasing the green areas inside cities. The enlargement of green cover is considered a complementary part of the architectural designs of cities. (Frame 7)
The environment of cities, at present,
suffers from the decline of green areas, gardens and public parks. In
Now a day, the 'Ghootah' (a famous fertile
oasis in Frame No. 7 The green lands, gardens and public parks in cities Housing and Urbanism: The location of industry in the cities followed by the active commercial, social and scientific fields, which created chances for work, caused the increase of immigration from villages into cities with high levels. Due to the immigrating numbers of people and the natural growth of population in cities, urban regions, especially towns, started to expand with disorder outside the organized regions swallowing valuable plantations and entire villages. Therefore, many infringement districts, besides being, heavily, crowded, they were established with primitive services, which caused many diseases due to the unhealthy environment (Frame 8). These hazardous settlements have three mutual distinctions, which are: 1 - The poor structural foundations and services or missing it at all, including drinking water, drainage system and proper methods of solid waste disposal. 2 - People live in crowded places, which lack the provisions of firmness and space, moreover, the non-existence of gardens, parks or green areas. The improper conditions of crowded residents caused a social defect, as well as, social and health problems. 3 - Most of these settlements are build in unsuitable areas for residing, such as, slopes and bottom of mountains which are exposed to soil collapses, or nearby industrial contamination and others. The residents, therefore, suffer several troubles, like, particulates contamination, floods due to the superficial water flowage and various diseases. The Ministry of Housing and Services declared that due to the lack of serious procedures since the beginning of these hazardous settlements' installations, many issues arise, mainly: a) The inability to apply and execute planning designs for these regions. b) The continuous surmounts of laws and regulations. c) The stealing of water from the neighborhood nets which caused a shortage of water. d) The increase of groundwater' contamination due to the lack of sewage system. e) The decline of electric power because of the illegal draws from the surrounding areas. f) Deforming the architectural look of a city. Frame No. 8 The assemblage of disordered
Settlements in
Moreover, the Ministry of Education
explains that the pedagogical situation in these disordered settlements
is improper because most of the schools are leased residences, which
lack the provisions and the characteristics of regular schools. To
understand the deteriorated pedagogical conditions of these settlements,
it is better to present what the Directory of Education in The pedagogical position in Tabaleh and Dwailah:
The area of Tabaleh and Dwailah extend
from the west of The leased schools, which are residential houses, are narrow buildings and lack the essential provisions of regular schools, such as, light and ventilation. In addition, its courtyards are very narrow and not enough for the students to be aligned, the classrooms are tight, stuffed with students and benches, which assist the fast spread of diseases among the students. Besides, bathrooms are next to the classes. In addition, there are no gardens or recreation areas, therefore, activities and sport are canceled completely. In this area, there are no Elementary, Secondary, Technical or training schools. Thus, hundreds of students are obliged to go into other far regions risking the danger of accidents. Beside the fatigue of reaching schools, the students are exposed to hard cold as well. Land Resources:
The total area of A) The arable lands form 5981 million Hectares. B) The non-arable lands form 3370 million Hectares. C) Meadow and pastures form 8270 million Hectares. D) Forests and woodlands form 537 thousand Hectares. The reports of the National Strategy of Environment in the year 2000 point out that more than 50% of the arable lands (3.2 million/Hectare) suffer from the negative influences of erosion, salinity and desertification. In fact, In spite of the legislations, which were established to protect the arable lands, many areas are non-arable anymore due to the urban expansion (disordered settlements), industry or domestic and industrial waste. As a result, the production of some crops declined, besides, pastures and animal wealth. Furthermore, forests lost their environmental and entertainment resources. The National Strategy of Environment estimated the resulting loss about 14500 millions SP in 1997 and 17700 millions SP in 2005, in the case that no appropriate procedures would be taken to protect the land resources. The main important matters of land resources are the following: 1) The degredation of the natural pastures: The Syrian semi-desert, which includes land that its yearly average of rain is less than 200mm, form about 55% of the total area of Syria (10.2 millions hectare). Its population is about 1.5 million inhabitants in which 250 thousands of them are farmers, 750 thousands are half Bedouins and 500 thousands are wandering nomads.
The Syrian semi-desert was known over the
years as one of the best and richest semi-deserts due to its natural
grassland. It was a resource of biodiversities, thus, many
civilizations, which had an important political, cultural and civilized
role in the history, were established and flourished in it.
Nevertheless, Its influences affected the
history of east These cultural examples, which refer to the ability of the old gathering settlements to continue living over a long period of time, mean that the inhabitants, logically, dealt with the surrounding environment and limited resources to prevent its degredation and consumption. As a matter of fact, all possible capabilities were used to administrate the available resources of pastures, land and water, like collecting, deporting and storing water in reservoirs or special drilled wells in the rocks to protect water from evaporation and leakage. In addition, there were legislations that organize such matters, like water distribution, pasturage and logging. Accordingly, these former civilizations were able to preserve the plant cover of the land and secure the soil from degredation, beside prevailing oasis planted with Palm, olive trees and grapevines. This flourishing view of the semi desert started to change since the middle of the Twentieth Century because of the following: - Overgrazing: The increase demand for animal production led to the increase of the number sheep, which increased from 206 million sheep in 1950 to 15.6 million sheep in 1998. This increase caused the phenomenon of the overgrazing, which destroyed plenty of the pasture's plants, especially, the palatable ones.
- The ploughing: The planted areas
increased on the expense of the natural pastures, especially, in the
regions that the average of rain is, less than 200-250 mm/year. The
planted non-irrigated areas increased in the
- Transport vehicles: Big trucks are still
used to carry sheep from one place to another
seeking grassland, as well as, tankers that transport water.
These vehicles degrade the plant cover and the soil because most of the
desert regions are flat with wide and slightly deep valleys, which tempt
the drivers not to comply with one specific road. Therefore, the big
trucks broadened the width of roads into hundreds of
meters, consequently, they formed an environment for
desertefication. In fact, each 10-km drive with a big truck in the
desert causes the deterioration of the plant cover and soil of about one
Hectare. The studies point out that due to the transport vehicles
between
- The logging: Many bush trees disappeared
from the desert because of logging, which increased the deterioration of
the plant cover, soil erosion and water cliffs. Moreover, Bedouins, in
most cases, cut the plants with the high nutritious value, which caused
the decline the productivity of pastures. Woodcutting destroyed the
Pistacia forests, which area in the mountain' regions of the semi-desert
declined from 300 thousands hectares to some hundreds only. The same
happened to the fig trees, which are, rarely, found in some valleys of
the mountains' regions and the tamarisk which is found on saline soil.
Almost, 400 millions bush trees are, yearly, cut from the All the previous practices are reflected in the degredation of the plant cover, the gradual soil erosion, especially, slopes and the vanish of the organic elements from superficial layers of soil, which have an important role of improving the structure of soil and increasing its ability for the rain penetration. The degredation of the plant cover and soil caused the increase of the heavy floods, especially, in the mountains of the desert. It is noticed that in spite of the few quantities of rain, it is, always, accompanied with heavy floods, to the extent that the roads become obstructed. Moreover, the rain of the Mediterranean climate is strong and intensified in certain days and months of the year, which facilitate the soil erosion, mainly, in the lands, which lost its plant cover. The map of World Food Organization, of year 1980, shows that the escarpment of soil in the Syrian desert under the effects of the overgazing, ploughing, logging and others are estimated from 10 to 50 tons/hec/year. This equals the scarp of soil layer from 0.1 to 0.5 cm/year. These numbers are astonishing and require necessary and strict procedures to stop this consume of the environmental resources.
2) It is difficult to consider the present plant cover as the one, which equilibrate with the surrounding atmosphere. In fact, the present coat is a retreat of the natural green coverage affected by the unwise humans' investment, through cutting, burning, planting and others.
Embeger mentions that huge areas of east
Mediterranean countries are covered, at present, by wild plants, which
are unsuitable for the actual climate and much less proper than its
capabilities. On the other hand, Walter clarifies that the high regions
of east
A map of
According to various studies, the forest
area covered 20 - 30% of the total area of World Resources pointed out that the decline of forests due to the natural fires, the undisciplined logging and pasteurizing reached 3.2% from the year 1980 to the year 1990 and 5% from the year 1990 to the year 1995. The former and present deterioration of forests causes the change of local environment toward more dryness of microclimate levels, in addition, the degredation and erosion of soil. The forests' deterioration is considered responsible for the environmental collapse in the same regions that the forests were removed from, besides, the inclination toward dryness and the emergence of flowing floods. This deterioration appears clearly in the littoral and interior regions. The superficial flow of rain, especially, on the slopes, and the floods' emerge are accompanied by a noticeable decrease of supplying the ground water and the fountains' exuberance. As a result, the lack of supply affected, negatively, the water storage and, of course, its association with the disturbance of social and economical life of inhabitants. 3) The soil salinity: The improper investment and administration of irrigated lands caused and still causes the salinity of some lands. The salinity appears, especially, in the soil that has a bad ability to drain water or due to the irrigation with salty water. The statistics point out that 532 thousand hectares (40% of irrigated lands) are affected by salinity. Moreover, 60 thousand hectares of fertile land in Al Furat and Al Khaboor basins are out of investment because of its salinity. Furthermore, 100 thousand hectares are partially saline and its productivity of crops declined into less than half. While the productivity of 90 thousand hectares declined by 25%, another 100 thousand hectares
Declined by 15%.
Therefore, 4) The biodiversity: The biodiversity means the following: - The diversity of the natural ecosystems, such as, forests, meadows, swamps and others of land and water ecosystems. - The diversity of Plant and Animals which form the ecosystems. - Races, Ecotypes and Varieties, which are related to species of a plant or animal, in addition to the old landraces of agricultural crops. The biodiversity, which is associated with genetic diversity, composes a huge valuable wealth. In addition to its role of ecosystem's settle and balance it offers for agriculture, industry and medicine the nutritive elements, drugs, new medicine and the primary elements for industry. The biodiversity, races, varieties and its genes are considered necessary for protecting and improving the agricultural production, the forests and the fishing grounds to face the unsuitable changes that might occur to the environment.
The present situation of 'biodiversity in
a) The forests of Pistacia atlantica at the desert's mountains and Abdul Aziz mountain. The studies point out that it, formerly, covered an areas of 300 thousand hectares, now a day, its area became less than hundreds of hectares.
b) The forests of Juniperus excelsa in Al
Kalamoon's mountains of c) The forests of Abies cilicica and the Cedrus libani forests, which are of the most beautiful forests in the world, unfortunately, in the late years, it turned to be reserve ecological areas. d) The forests of Pinus brutia and Quercus calliprions in the coastal mountains. e) The historical information indicate that Oak, Acer microphyllum, Ulmus minor, Rhmnus palaestina, Prinus microcarpus, Almond, Azarole and others formed expanded forests in the mountains of eastern Lebanon series, also, were obtained at the mountains of Al Kalamoon. At present, they are all forgotten.
So much little is known about the types of
plants and the rare species of animals which are threatened to
disappear, or, about the species which, completely, vanished because of
the microclimate's collapse. The information refers to a number of wild
animals that lived in the east of the Although there are no exact statistics about the extinct or threatened birds, it is certain that a big number of birds had, severely, declined. Recently, no more partridges, or bustards nor other birds' coveys are seen. As a matter of fact, fowls were available with big numbers since a period not so far from now. 5) The natural reserves The right administration of the biodiversity is more than an aesthetic desire, but it is a life necessity and a moral commitment toward our environment and other existing beings who share this life with us, as well as, a moral commitment toward the present and succeeding generations. The best place to preserve the biodiversity on earth is the vital ecotypes in which the existing beings live, especially, the natural reserves and national parks. The natural reserves are big areas that include natural ecosystems, which are preserved from ruining and, at its limits, any human activity, which might cause its deterioration, is stopped. The reserves should occupy large and variant areas, which represent all the natural regions of the country. Inside the reserves, all the ecosystem's components are provided with full protection, especially, the animals and plants that are threatened with extinction. The Reserves differ according to their ecosystems and purposes. Some regions might be, completely, protected, or only some components of the ecosystems, like protecting species of the threatened animals from extinction, or protecting a certain plant for its aesthetic or historical value, also, protecting some topographical forms and others. As the reserve regions provide the mechanism of preserving the biodiversity, most countries established reserve regions (frame 9). Thus, the number of reserves increased in the world from 1478 reserves in year 1980 to 9793 reserves in year 1994. However, the reserved areas in the world increased from 164 million hectares in 1970 to 652 million hectares in 1990. Nevertheless, the reserves covered in year 1994 the area of 7.1% of the ground.
In Frame No. 9: The number of reserves areas in some Arab countries. (World Union to Preserve Nature 1997) 6) The water resources:
The estimated quantity of superficial and
groundwater in
Some influences of water's decline are
noticed through the diminishing of groundwater's level, the increase of
salinity and the hard suffer of some regions, mainly, at Barada's baisn
and Al A'awaj river, of severe shortage of drinking water, especially,
in the last years. The excessive consumption of groundwater increased
because of the illegal and disordered drillings of wells, without taking
into consideration the balance of the consummated water with the
possibility of renewing it by the falling rains. Therefore, the
groundwater's level declined and in some cases dried completely, as what
happened in Al Salamiah during the 50ies of this century. Moreover, the
excessive consumption of groundwater continues, at present, in Damascu's
baisn, Al Jazeera and However, the World sources of 1999 pointed out that in 1996 the safe drinking water covered about 92% of the urban regions and 78% of the rural regions. 7) Drainage System:
Drainage systems are fully applied in all
main cities of
Seawater and rivers of the coast are
considered the main places to get rid of sewage, except
The sources of the Ministry of Irrigation
indicated that the water of Al Assi River became of bad standard,
especially, after flowing out of The National Strategy of Environment of year 2000 clarified that the lack of sewage's treatment, the water contamination, the shortage of drainage systems and the decrease of vital provisions in lakes and rivers cause bad damages. These damages are estimated of 5000 million SP in 1997 and about 8800 million SP in year 2005, in addition to more than 8000 million SP, which are the costs of water resources and the decline of ground water storage. The National Strategy of Environment, also, revealed that the lack of sewage's treatment in most regions of the country caused the contamination of the superficial water and bad influences on health. Actually, the number of ill cases, which were transmitted by water, reached hundreds of thousands that were reported in 1996. In addition, there is the problem of contaminating some agricultural crops, which are irrigated by sewage water. Conclusion: In most cases, the economical progress did not associate with preparing policies and organizations to plan a complete treatment of the environmental collapse and the methods of protecting it. This lack of interest encouraged the improper investment and preservation of the environmental resources, besides, exposing the prospects of the social and economical growth for danger. As a matter of fact, the practical experiences in the entire world clears that the neglect of taking serious acts now, will, only, lead into the increase of costs and complicate the procedures of treatments which might be taken later on. Obviously, the problems which affect the human health or that which result an economical loss should have the priority of treatment. Every strategy, in fact, which is directed to reinforce the sustainable development, should depend on three main issues, which are as follows: 1 - Fortifying the environmental organizations and public participation:
The administration of environmental
affairs is rather a new field in 2 - Improving the administration of the natural resources: The issues of the environmental degredation, such as, air pollution, water decline, desertefication of pastures, the salinity of arable lands and others imply an essential restrain for the economical growth in the future. Also, energy, in spite of its availability now, will be tight in case the present excessive consumption continues. Thus, the tendency of growth should be redirected away from the excessive investment of the natural resources base, by meliorating the administration system, increasing the qualifications and reducing the dissipation. 3 -Terminating the arising problems of pollution: The urban and industrial contamination, also, the lack of sufficient and safe drainage systems represent an increasing threat for the public health. The strategy of the environment has to treat the effects of contamination on all levels, like: - Improving the water standard. - Meliorating the drainage and sewerage systems. - Rectifying the industrial functions of high level contamination. - Decreasing the pollution of transport. - Clearing fuel from lead and the fuel of high sulfur. - Using emanating regulators for transport vehicles, - Hurrying to apply natural gas for transport's vehicles and others.
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