Nvironmental Profile Tihama Environmental Environmental Health Protection Council Department Ministry of Housing and Municipalities
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t.623 YET 190 nvironmental Profile Tihama Environmental Environmental Health Protection Council Department Ministry of Housing and Municipalities 'Oli\i';. '•'.'til Evironmental Profile Tihama Yemen Arab Republic ;f Study team ir. Robert Beck prof. dr. Dik C.P. Thalent • dr. Jaques van der Gun ir. Janjoost Kessler ir. Bart P. van Lavieren ir. Paul Scholten dr. Ali Mohamed Al-Shatebi dr. Yahia Aboud dr. Ali Albar dr. Ahmed Alwan Al-Madhagi dr. Abdul Waly Agbary M dr. Ali Mukred Mohamed Al-Awadi dr. Hazim Al Shukry dr. Abdul-Rahman Bamatraf dr. Abdullah Ba-lssa Editor ir. Robert Beck LIBRARY, INTERNATIONAL REFERENCE I CEf-nT:~ FOR COMMUNITY WATER SUPPLY : AND :;,V''r ' ;-: liftC) P.O. EG : : j-,,, 2JO9 AD The Hagu« Tel. (07" 3149 11 ext 141/142 IDHV LO: VE.T DHV Consultants '- January 1990 This publication has been made possible due to the financial support by the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation. Copyright belongs to the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation. However, short excerpts of this publication may be reproduced without prior authorization on the condition that the source is indicated. Applications to obtain the right of reproduction and/or translation should be made to the Netherlands Minister. Responsibility for the information and opinions expressed in this publication rests solely with the authors and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the afore mentioned Minister. (•?• Contents Page Page 1 Introduction 5 6 Present state of natural resources 27 1.1 Scope/Objective 5 6.1 Changing landscapes 27 1.2 How it is made 5 6.2 Sustainability 27 1.3 One of a series 5 6.3 Use and misuse of resources 29 2 Setting 7 7 Conservation 35 2.1 History 7 7.1 Biogeographical position 35 2.2 Topography and landscape 7 7.2 Flora and fauna 35 2.3 Population 9 7.3 Patterns of change 37 2.4 Geology 10 7.4 Requirements for nature conservation 37 2.5 Climate 11 2.6 Drainage 11 2.7 Legislative framework 12 8 Urban environment and environmental health 39 2.8 Why water is given priority 12 8.1 Health situation 39 8.2 Water supply 39 8.3 Urban hydrology 39 3 Water and land 13 8.4 Al Hudaydah's environmental problems 41 3.1 Types of land 13 8.5 Zabid's environmental problems 41 3.2 Surface water systems 15 3.3 Occurrence and characteristics of groundwater 15 9 Concluding statements for further action 42 9.1 Sustainable development 42 9.2 Socio-economic factors 42 4 The human factor 17 9.3 Changes in actual use and management 43 4.1 Agriculture 17 9.4 Implementation of environmental policies 44 4.2 Livestock production 20 9.5 Research 45 4.3 Firewood use 20 4.4 Fishery 21 10 Summary 46 5 Land and water use ecology 23 5.1 Land tenure 23 11 References 47 5.2 Water rights 24 5.3 Incentives in agricultural production 24 5.4 Incentives in livestock production 24 12 Colophon 48 5.5 Incentives in management of wood and range resources 25 SUDAN IBOUH== (J ft ETHIOPIA \_- The Tihama in the Yemen Arab Republic in the Middle East Tihama kadi on his farm Doum palms on the Red Sea shore 1, Introduction 1.1 Scope/Objective tional formed the basis for tation in front of the authori- This Environmental Profile much of the information. Many ties concerned. A number of describes the environment of descriptions of the state of the statements were presented the coastal plain, the Tihama, resources, including descrip- and discussed on this occa- of the Yemen Arab Republic. It tions of vegetation, land use, sion, which are reflected in the also gives an analysis of envi- wildlife etc. were made. Our concluding chapter of this ronmental problems. Emphasis previous experience in the Profile is placed on the role of man area, for some of us dating in his interaction with the envi- back to the sixties, combined ronment: how do people in the with a study of literature al- 1.3 One of a series Tihama use and manage the lowed us to make a compari- This Environmental Profile is resources available and why son with the past. one of a series of three. The do they do it the way they do? other Volumes of this series Another source of information discuss the environment and By providing an overview of for studying the vast area that environmental problems in, the environment and the state the Tihama covers, was satel- respectively, Dhamar Governor- of resources in the Tihama lite imagery. ate and Al Bayda Governorate. and by describing the motives, These areas are chosen, be- patterns and trends of resour- Due to the limited availability cause they are areas in which ce use in regard to their and reliability of environmental assistance from the Nether- sustainability, the Environ- information, and the very little lands Ministry of Development mental Profile creates a frame- time available for the prepa- Cooperation is concentrated. work of environmental ration of the Profile, many However, the three areas of constraints and possibilities for shortcomings may be apparent study together cover an East- decision making by the autho- when reading it. This should West cross-section of the rities responsible for develop- lead to the conclusion that Yemen Arab Republic, contai- ment in the Tihama. more attention to the subject ning the main zones in which is necessary in future. the country can be divided. Use of the environment must These zones have a north- be sustainable if it is to The study was executed under south orientation. The zones guarantee sound medium and the supervision of the Environ- are the Tihama, bordering the long term conditions for mental Health Department Red Sea, the Mountain Belt, existence and a good guality of the Ministry of Housing and The Yemen Highlands and the of life. Therefore, man's activi- Municipalities in Sana' and Eastern Desert bordering the ties must fit within the en- financed by the Netherlands Rub al Khali. Consequently vironmental constraints of the Ministry of Development the three Profiles together may area being used. To achieve Cooperation. The Environmen- provide an insight into the this, knowledge and under- tal Protection Council provided environmental situation and standing of the environment is the framework in which these problems for the Yemen Arab required and must be integra- activities were carried out. Republic as a whole. However, ted into land use and planning They were carrried out by spe- it is recognized that local activities. cialists from the University situations outside the study of Sana', the Agricultural Re- areas may be quite different search Authority in Yemen, the from those encountered within 1.2 How it is made Research Institute for Nature the study areas. In our work in Tihama in 1988, Management, the TNO Insti- information was collected on tute of Applied Geoscience the environment and its use by and DHV Consultants from the man in the different areas. Netherlands. The team visited the area in October 1988. Interviews with During the study, a seminar farmers, nomads and autho- was held in Sana' at which rities, both modern and tradi- team members held a presen- 6 Topography and elevation HEO SEA ARABIAN .•it' 0- 500 meter ;*msl 500 1 500 meter amsl 15OO-?5OO meter amsl >2500 meter ;jmsl Tihama boundary Luhayya mosque Tihama village with round huts 2. Setting 2.1 History established a "factorij" in Al 2.2 Topography and landscape The Tihama is an area of great Mukhah in 1621. The Company, Some say that the African Sahel historical importance to the Yemen. which was extremely powerful at ends at the foothills of the Yemen It was visited by many medieval that time, traded in Al Mukhah be- mountain belt. Of course, both in scientists, especially during the tween 1614 and 1716. However,the terms of culture and resources the Yemen Golden Age, in the reign of trade focused on coffee and was situation is quite different, though the Rasulid Sultans (13th to 16th not very profitable. The Dutch in some respects, there are simi- century). This long period of Ra- word for coffee, "mokka", comes larities. The flat expanse of the dry sulid control of the Tihama and from this harbour. rangelands of the Tihama is dissec- southern Yemen, lasting more than ted by wadis along which agricul- two centuries, was without doubt tural lands and villages are During the Imamate, Yemen remai- the most brilliant in the early and situated. Many of these villages ned isolated while the world chan- medieval history of the Yemen. The consist of round grass-roofed huts. ged rapidly. The isolation ended town of Zabid was one of the great with the proclamation of the intellectual centres of the world in Yemen Arab Republic on Septem- The Tihama is bordered on the that period and many religious, ber 26, 1962. This heralded a per- west by the Red Sea. In the east, astronomical, mathematical and iod of change in the Yemen which the natural border consists of the other subjects were studied. In this is quite unmatched elsewhere in foothills of the Mountain Belt. This town, the basis for modern Algebra the world: From a country which, mountain belt rises to 3660 meters was developed. Attention was also in the 1960s, had virtually no cars above sea level within a distance paid in this period to the study of or even tracks suitable for cars, to of 50 km from the beginning of agriculture and nature, though it one having a network of tarmac the foothills (at roughly 400 meters was not a subject of major inte- and secondary roads and many above sea level).