Environment ministers from across the world, attending the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya, unanimously endorsed a desk report on the environmental situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Compiled at the request of governments by the organization's Post-Conflict Assessment Unit, the report calls upon governments and international organizations to "support the rehabilitation of the environment and reconstruction of damaged environmental infrastructure, and thus to assist the environmental authorities concerned in their efforts to address urgent environmental needs in the occupied Palestinian territories".
The recommendations include revitalizing and reactivating existing environmental agreements such as the Joint Environmental Experts Committee established by the Oslo agreements of the 1990s. Updating the Palestinian Authority's National Environment Action Plan and support from the international community for implementing it should be a priority.
Other recommendations include implementing water saving strategies for industry, households and agriculture, water modeling of the Gaza aquifer, repair of cess-pits to reduce contamination of underground water supplies, construction of waste-water treatment plants, the establishment of regional solid waste authorities, strengthened cooperation to protect the Dead Sea, including the possibility of making it a World Heritage Site, action to immediately stop the hunting of migratory birds along the Gaza coastline, and an intensification of efforts to conserve protected areas such as the Wadi Gaza. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
