LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT COPYRIGHTS FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES Copyright C 2007 By the UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Beirut, Lebanon All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of UNDP. All information and opinions listed in this file are exclusive to the author and do not necessarily reflect the UN point of view, especially the UNDP or any of the member states. Cover, backpage and separators design: Joumana Samaha (UNDP/MoE Ozone Office) UNDP Report Prepared by ELARD ii LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT DISCLAIMER FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES DISCLAIMER All information and opinions listed in this report are exclusive to the author and does not necessarily reflect the UN point of view, especially the UNDP or any of the member states. Although all reasonable efforts have been made to present accurate information, UNDP or ELARD assume no legal responsibility for the accuracy of presentations, comments, results or recommendations in this report. UNDP Report Prepared by ELARD iii LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PREFACE FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES PREFACE FROM THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT Peace & Good Will Win Over War & Evil… Lebanese Citizens and Citizens of the Globe, “We Should All Be Working Together To Safeguard Environment For A Better Quality of Life & For a Better World” When we truly think sustainable ecological development we can not wipe from our collective memories major environmental disasters. The past does leave us clues to learn from but… are we listening… Japan, 60 years ago… the nuclear bomb of World War II… Now, there is a permanent "Sit In" in front of the White House in Washington that civil society is maintaining so we shall not forget… Seveso 30 years ago… The 2,4,5T herbicide manufacturing industry blew up releasing dioxins… and environment became a priority and its civil movement in Italy keeps reminding us all so we shall not forget… Bhopal 20 years ago, Union Carbide accident released methylisocyanates… and people in India are still struggling from its adverse effects on public health… research is still being conducted and articles are still being written so we shall not forget… Ukraine 2 years after Bhopal… Chernobyl a nuclear power plant blew up… Then environment became a priority in Europe and Green Parties grew to be heard and gained more seats in the federal parliament thus influencing policy so we shall not forget… Then Minamata in Japan…Mercury was released with industrial effluents contaminating the seafood chain… to commemorate that, the Japanese people built the Minamata museum so that generations shall not forget… UNDP Report Prepared by ELARD iv LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PREFACE FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES Toulouse, France, 6 years ago in 2001… an ammonium nitrate plant blew up causing an explosion equivalent to an earthquake of 3.4 on the Richter scale… major European legislation was enacted, so we shall not forget… Last but not least, the most recent environmental catastrophe on the east coast of the Mediterranean is the Jiyeh power plant incident caused by the barbaric Israeli war on Lebanon spilling 12,000 – 15,000 Tones of Heavy Fuel Oil; now: Oil Spill + Mediterranean Sea = Black Sea This new formula was devised so we shall not forget… Yes indeed, the years of civil strife in Lebanon were difficult and we all thought that if we survived them we would have stood the test of most difficult times... until we all witnessed 2006 in all its vivid events… Lebanon just before the July/August 2006 War was ranking 35 out of 133 countries on the Environment Performance Index (EPI) and one of the top ten destination for tourism, that for sure was not agreeable too many… The July/August 2006 war caused severe impact on the environment. General severe environmental degradation was the end result. It is important for the collective memory of the World to share Lebanon’s vivid adverse effect on environment resulting from the barbaric War. Three major environmental disasters emanated from the War. 1. The Oil Spill on the East Coast of the Mediterranean Sea: 150 Km of Lebanese coast was polluted with heavy fuel oil. Impacts were recorded on public health, on environmentally sensitive ecosystems like the Palm Islands protected area, on nature based tourism like public sandy beaches and private tourism service providers on the coast line and finally on economy such as the livelihoods of fishermen and communities dependent on healthy marine life. 2. The waste/rubble that was generated due to the heavily bombarded residential areas of the southern suburbs of the Beirut and the south of Lebanon, transport infrastructure, and other industrial facilities. The waste generated overburdened the existing solid waste management operations and lead to multiple haphazard solid waste dumps from where pollution emissions and effluents will find their way in to air and water bodies. 3. Unexploded ordinance (UXOs) sporadically sprinkled by Israeli Defense Forces infecting massive areas of land that is currently utilized for agriculture, reforestation, eco-tourism and other economically sustainable activities. These UXOs on top of the landmines that IDF had left behind upon their withdrawal in 2000 are seriously hindering rural development plans and programmes and exerting immense pressure on rural communities forcing them to internally migrate to urban environments thus leading to increased environment degradation in rural areas and overloading man- made-environments in urbanized cities. UNDP Report Prepared by ELARD v LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PREFACE FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES Substantial progress has been made on combating these major environmental catastrophes. This would not have been possible without the 3Ps, partnership, partnership and more partnership with local, national and international partners in the United Nations, Governments, Private Sector, Civil Society Groups and Academia. Much has been accomplished but much more still needs to be learned and done. Much is recorded in the report “Lebanon Rapid Environmental Assessment for Greening Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform - 2006” about the impacts of the War. This is an opportune moment to thank UNDP-Lebanon for its generous financial contributions and for inviting us to write this preface to flag up the major effects of the war on the environment, and ELARD for its hard work, and Lebanese citizens who were alertly present during all the days and difficult hours of the War and documenting events for the sake of history and starting the process for extracting lessons to be learned. Undoubtedly, the War damaged Lebanon’s environment in all its physical, chemical, biological and social forms, but it failed to undermine the Lebanese Passion, Perseverance, and Patience to commit to a better quality of life for a better Mediterranean and World. We are glad many of our fellow citizens and families have survived the war and God Bless the Lebanese souls that were lost... after all, “For Change We Need Martyr… For Martyr We Need Men… For Men We Need Believers in Better a Lebanon & a Just World…” Fellow citizens of the World, remember that Belief, Resistance, Courage, Faith and Hope are the ingredients and renewable energy source that will allow us all to prevail and let peace & good will win over war & evil. Team Members Ministry of Environment Beirut, 29 January, 2007 UNDP Report Prepared by ELARD vi LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Lebanon Rapid Environmental Assessment for Greening Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by Earth Link and Advanced Resources Development (ELARD). This initiative was closely coordinated with and supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Environment (MoE). UNDP and ELARD also maintained coordination during the implementation of this study with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Post-Conflict Branch. The report contributors are listed below. ELARD Team (listed by chapter/role): Team Leader Ricardo Khoury Team Coordinator Karen Manasfi Construction: Task Leader: Dana Nasr Special Contributors: Anwar Ali (UNDP), Joseph Zbeide (Nakhleh, Zgheib and Co.) Transport: Task Leader: Samar Abou Raad Team Member: Rami Semaan Energy Task Leader: Vahakn Kabakian Industry Task Leader: Vahakn Kabakian Team Member: Rabih Fayad Agriculture: Task Leader: Fadi Asmar Special contributors: Jean Stephan, Chadi Mhanna, Brahim Hawi, Imad Nahhal, Ave Khoury, Georges Frem, Salim Roukoz (MoA) Solid waste: Task Leader: Rabih Fayad Air: Task Leader: Vahakn Kabakian Water and Soil Task Leader: Nadim Farajalla UNDP Report Prepared by ELARD vii LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES Biodiversity: Task Leader: Mirna Semaan Team Members: Mounir Bou Said (fauna), Imad Seoud (marine biodiversity), Assaad Serhal (SPNL) (avifauna) Special Contributors: Hala Kilani (IUCN) Simon Anstey (IUCN) Dr. Ghassan Jaradi (literature, information and pictures) Professor Rick Steiner