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The State of the Environment in Qatar United Nations Environment Programme

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The State of the Environment in Qatar United Nations Environment Programme 1 c, - p. I L NITEI) NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME REWONPI-1 OFFiCE FOR W}.' ftSJ! S...... THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN QATAR UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME REGIONAL OFFICE FOR WEST ASIA ....... THE STATE OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN QATAR 1984 FOREWORD In the course of discussions carried out during my visit to Qatar in April, 1983, it was recommended that the UNEP Regional Office for West Asia should assist the Permanent Environmental Protection Committee (EPC) of Qatar by commissioning a study on the environmental situation In Qatar to identify priority areas that should be addressed by the EPC in the biennium 1984/1985. This recommendation was further elaborated and approved during the official visit of Dr. Mostafa K. Tolba, Executive Director of UNEP, to Qatar in November,1983. As a follow-up to this decision, the IJNEP Regional Office for West Asia entrusted Dr. Essam El-Hinnawi (Research Professor at the National Research Centre, Cairo ; and Senior Adviser to UNEP) with the preparation of the present report on the state of the environment in Qatar. I hope that this report will be found to give an accurate assessment of the environmental situation as existed in 1983 in Qatar and that it will be useful for planning the work of the Environmental Protection Committee. It is also my sincere hope that other organizations in Qatar, and in particular the scientific community, will pick-up the environmental problems identified in this renort and nccelernte the efforts to find adequate solutions to these and other issues that may emerge. Salih Osman Regional Representative of tJNEP Director, UNEP Regional Office for West Asi Manama, January, 1984 -i - PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The present report on the State of the environment in Qatar was prepared with the following in mind the report should identify different environmental problems encountered or likely to be encountered in Qatar: it should identify inadequacies In environmental protection measures; and it should be action-oriented. In the preparation of this report, I have relied heavily on published information and on data gathered during extensive discussions carried out in Doha and at Umin Said. Dr. Moatafa K. tolba, despite his many commitments, as the Executive Director of UNEP, followed closely the preparation of this report and provided most valuable guidance, advice and support. A great deal of credit goes also to Mr. Salib Osman, Director of UNEP Regional Office for West Asia, who provided all possible aBsistance and a thorough briefing before I started my assignment. The present report would not have been possibly written without the whole-hearted co-operation and assistance extended to me in Qatar by Dr. Hassan Kushkush, Secretary General of the Environmental Protection Committee, Mr. Hussein El-Baker of EPC, and the EPC Administrative Staff. I would especially like to express my deep gratitude and thanks to officials of the following organizations who provided all possible assistance and information in the course of my discussions with them Electricity Department, Water Department, Sewerage Department, Ports Authorities, Traffic Department, Agricultural Research Department, Fisheries Department, Qatar Petroleum Corporation, Regional Centre for Food Contamination Monitoring (Ministry of Public Health), Occupational Health Division (Ministry of Public Health), Industrial Developmen Technical Centre (IJYrC); Qatar Petrochemical Company at 0mm Said (QAPCO), Qatar Stoe:L Company at Umm Snfd (QASCO), and Qatar Fertillzrr Company at Umm Said (QAFCO). Mr. Osman Abu Salma of the Occupational Health Division 1 Ministry of Public Health accompanied me to 0mm Said; his assistance is gratefully acknowledged. Finally, I have greatly benefited from discussions with several of my distinguished colleagues at the University of Qatar and at the Centre for ScIentific and Applied Research of the University of Qatar. To all of them, I am most grateful. Essam El-Hinnawi Research Professor National Research Centre, Cairo Cairo, January, 1984 - ii - TABLE OF CONTEr1TS Page FOREWORD ............................................ i PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................... ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................... Iii I. INTRODUCTION ...................................... i Ii. NATURAL RESOURCESENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT.....5 Soils and Agriculture .......................... 5 Water Resources ................................ 8 Energy Production and Use .....................18 Marine Resources ..............................19 TII,!NDUSTRY AND ENVIRONMENT.......................... 21 QUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN QATAR ............... 32 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACTIVITIES IN QATAR......37 RECOMMENDATIONS ............ ............ ..... ...... 42 REFERENCES ...................................... 47 ANNEX I PROPOSED PROGRAMME FOR 1984/1985 ...........49 EXECUTIVE SUNVIARY THERE IS A GROWING CONCERN AMONG POLICY-MAKERS AND THE PUBLIC IN QATAR ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE COUNTRY'S ENVIRONMENT. AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMITTEE WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE GOVERNMENT IN 1981 TO UNDERTAKE MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SITUATiON IN QATAR, TO PREPARE ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATIONS, POLICIES AND PLANS, AND TO CO-ORDINATE NATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN DIFFERENT FIELDS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SEVERAL ENVIRONJIENTAL PROBLEMS ARE ENCOUNTERED IN QATAR, THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES ARE : SOIL DEGRADATION AND POLLUTION, OVER-EXPLOITATION OF GROUNDWATER, GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION, MARINE POLLUTION (MAINLY FROM OIL SPILLS, THERMAL POLLUTION AND INDUSTRIAL DISCHARGES)., AIR POLLUTION, AND LAND POLLUTION (THROUGH DISPOSAL OF UNTREATED WASTEWATER AND INDUSTRIAL WASTESETC). THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THESE PROBLEMS REMAIN TO BE ASSESSED IN DETAiL THROUGH QUANTITATIVE ANALYSES, MONITORING AND EVALUAT1ONI ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STANDARDS ARE LACKING IN i'ATAR THE FORMULATION OF SUCH STANDARDS IS OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE FOR ENFORCING ENVIROrIMENTAL POLLUTION CONTROL MEASURES AND ALSO TO SERVE AS THE SCALE FOR EVALUATING THE DEGREE OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION1 ON THE REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVELS, QATAR HAS RATIFIED A NUMBER OF REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS DEALING WITH THE ENVIRONf1ENT BUT THERE ARE 13 OTHER CONVENTIONS THAT SHOULD BE CONSI)ERED, A NUMBER OF RECOPItIENDATIONS (r1 142) HAS BEEN FORMULATED IN THE LIGHT OF THE PRESENT REPORT. THESE DEAL MAINLY WITH INSTITUTIONAL, LEGISLATIVE 1ONITORING, ASSESSMENT, AND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT QUESTIONS. - 111 - 1, INTRODUCTION The State of Qatar occupies an arid peninsula of approximately 11,800 km extending northwards from the Arabian Peninsula mainland into the Gulf (Flg.1). The country is about 180 km along its north- south axiB and the east-west width at its widest point is 85 km. The surface of Qatar is of low to moderate relief, with the highest elevation of 103 in above sea level being attained in southern Qatar where mesa type hills and large barchan sand dunes serve to break the monotony of an otherwise flat eroded landscape. The central part of Qatar consists of a plateau known locally as barr Qatar (the stone desert or the central plateau of Qatar). The landscape is stippled by about 850 surface depressions, which lie below the surrounding land surface at a depth ranging from a few metres to as much as 20 m. Theae depressionq are usually circular and range from a few hundred metres to two or three kilometres in diameter. They are usually called rodat (single : i-odah). Another type of shallow depression, usually lineated and different in origin from the rodat, is the closed-in depression locally known as manga. These depressions lie just a few centimetres below the surrounding land surface. The rodah and the manga differ as regards water venue, soil characteristics and plant growth. The coastline of Qatar is gently emergent and presents an uneven outline with numerous inlets, islands, reefs, capes and bays and extensive areas of sabkhas (sabkba is an Arabic term denoting inland or coastal saline flats or playaa with fine silt and calcareous sands). Coastal sabkhas are widespread along the coastal margins of Qatar, especially along the eastern coast to the south of 11mm Said. Extensive inland sabkhas abound to the east of the Dukhan ridge and in southern Qatar. Sabkhas below sea level occupy a considerable area in Qatar 1 reaching 95 km 2 . One of the remarkable features of plant growth along the coasts of Qatar is the occurrence of mangrove vegetation represented by Avicennia marina (Batanouny, 1981). -1- - 2 - At Damrnam • Al Kubar AL Monamob 1) At Ru'ny BAHRAIN Ras Lafla r dot Al. khtjw , lb L] jflOfl %P Q1Ruoha V 1 RosAbuntas 250 Abij Samroh 'p c7 r '0 20 30 40 (. & L :6mmmi km 4 500 Figure 1. Map of Qatar -3- From the geological point of view, Qatar is a wide anticlinal arch or pericline, with gentle creSt and steeper marginal dips and a north- south axis central to the peninsula culminating in the centre of the country. This arch is complicated by the presence of several other more pronounced structures 1 of which the Dukhan anticline (the main oil-bearing structure) 1 the Sawda Nathil dome and the Simsimab dome are apparent (FAO, 1981). The geological succession is composed of Tertiary limestones and dolomites with interbedded clays, mans and shales covered in places by a series of Quaternary and Recent superficial deposits. The oldest rocks exposed are the limestones of the Rus Formation of Lower Eocene age although the most widespread outcrops are the dolomites and crystalline chalky limestones of the
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