The environment, at a crossroads
Haaretz
By Michael J. Caduto
News from the Middle East usually describes conflicts and their root causes in
politics, religious fundamentalism and the struggle between Israelis and
Palestinians for a homeland. Threats to peace and security are indeed a
backdrop for daily existence, but that is only part of the story.
In April the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPPA)
invited me to experience the area's environmental problems - the first step of
a collaboration coordinated by the Quebec-Labrador Foundation, an NGO based in
Ipswich, Mass. The program brings together conservationists from Israel,
Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, who will use traditional folk stories to
teach about the environment.
After I met with the Palestine Wildlife Society in the West Bank, INNPPA staff
led a tour of Israeli sites that embody key environmental issues. I discovered
a magnificent landscape rich in biological diversity, because it lies at the
convergence of Europe, Asia and Africa. From snow-capped mountains and vast
deserts to expansive lakes and marine ecosystems, few places on Earth possess
this startling array of habitats and species in such a small geographic area.
Nature's grandeur is juxtaposed with vivid reminders of human impacts. En route
to the Gamla Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights, we drove through grassy
swells denuded of forests centuries ago. Pastoral hills were fenced and marked
with signs warning of mine fields never cleared, a vestige of past wars.
Along the dizzying cliffs in Gamla, griffon vultures rose on thermals so close
we could almost touch these ancient birds, whose wingspan can exceed 2.5
meters. This, the largest breeding colony of vultures in Israel, is in rapid
decline. Many eggs are infertile and numerous hatchlings die due to a
calcium-poor diet and lack of food (dead animal carcasses) in the wild. Adult
vultures can't obtain enough calcium from small pieces of dead animal bones, so
they feed instead on the metal fragments of old ammunition and shrapnel that
litter the countryside. Vultures die by electrocution when they perch on power
lines, by purposeful shootings and by inadvertent killings when birds feed on
the remains of cattle poisoned by farmers locked in a territorial dispute.
Later, at the Hai-Bar Carmel Nature Reserve, a lanky, bearded naturalist named
Yigal Miller proudly told of how he had established the first successful
captive breeding and release program for griffon vultures.
We drove south past Bedouin riding donkeys while grazing sheep and camels at the
edge of the Judean Desert. Well below sea level, we stood in the abandoned
dining room of the old Jordan Hotel, framed by mortar-riddled walls, and looked
across a vast plain that dipped toward the distant shoreline of the Dead Sea.
Before the hotel was abandoned during the 1967 war, waves still lapped at the
feet of guests who stood on this veranda. Dead Sea water is now being
drastically drawn down and desalinated to quench the thirst of this densely
populated region.
As peace efforts continue, the viability of ecosystems and resources also stands
at a crossroads that will determine environmental health and the survival of
many species. The demise of the Dead Sea would devastate Jordanians, Israelis
and Palestinians alike. Invasive plants out-compete native species that provide
nest sites for birds plus food and shelter for animals. Many plants and animals
are collected, hunted and poached toward extinction. On most days in the hills
of the Carmel coast, polluted air hangs so thick it is impossible to see the
Mediterranean Sea a few kilometers away. Water pollution, depletion of precious
water supplies and degradation of habitat for migratory birds are serious
problems.
In the Middle East, environmental issues pose the greatest long-term threat to
the health and well-being of humans and the natural world. Private
organizations and governmental agencies are conducting environmental research
and conservation programs. They teach of the necessity for changes in policy
and practice to preserve habitats and natural resources that meet the survival
needs of all. The environment is the one tie that irrevocably binds the peoples
of the Middle East, regardless of differences in politics, faith or culture.
The writer presents programs on the environment (www.p-e-a-c-e.net) and is
author of "Everyday Herbs in Spiritual Life: A Guide to Many Practices" and
"Abraham's Bind and other Bible Tales of Trickery, Folly, Mercy and Love."