Middle East - Anthony Ham [94]
And yet this is land that will almost certainly have to be returned if there is ever to be peace between Israel and Syria. Not surprisingly, given the significance of the Golan Heights to Israeli agriculture, there has been strong opposition within Israel to any deal that cedes the Golan to Syria. As one Israeli farmer told the BBC in 2008, ‘For us it’s life and death. I wouldn’t count upon anyone else to say it’s going to be OK. I’d rather the water be in my hands, especially round here – you can’t trust people’s words.’ For their part, local Palestinian farmers and the Syrians argue that Israel has already abused the finite resources of the region and can’t be trusted to care for the Golan’s natural resources. To support their argument, they point to dangerously low water levels, rising salinity and increasing levels of toxic algae in the Sea of Galilee; experts agree that excessive human activity is to blame.
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The Middle East is home to 4.5% of the world’s population and around half of the world’s oil supplies, but only receives 2% of the world’s rainfall and possesses just 0.4% of the world’s recoverable water supplies.
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This general scorecard of the countries in the region is reflected in our GreenDex, which recognises sustainability at tourist sites and businesses, whether for their environmental practices or for preserving traditional ways of living. In particular, the Israel and Palestinian Territories and Jordan have a number of exciting initiatives on offer.
For information on how to reduce your environmental impact, Click here. And for a look at the broader impact of tourism on the Arab world, pick up a copy of the excellent Beaches, Ruins, Resorts: The Politics of Tourism in the Arab World by Waleed Hazbun.
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The Dead Sea is Dying Dr Alon Tal
The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth and probably one of the hottest. The high resulting evaporation produces an astonishing salinity of 31%, about nine times higher than the oceans, making a dip in the Dead Sea a very salty experience. The high mineral concentrations mean incredible buoyancy and great photo opportunities – get a snapshot of your travel companions happily sitting upright on the water reading newspapers. The water’s oily minerals also contain salubrious properties. German health insurance covers periodic visits to the Dead Sea for psoriasis patients to luxuriate in the healing waters.
Sadly, no natural resource in the Middle East shows more signs of impact from relentless population growth and economic development than the Dead Sea. Technically, the sea is a ‘terminal lake’ into which the Jordan River, along with other more arid watersheds, deposits its flow. Despite the folk song’s characterisation of the River Jordan as ‘deep and wide’, in fact it has never been much of a gusher. When Israeli and Jordanian farmers began to divert its water to produce a new agricultural economy in the 1950s, the flow was reduced to a putrid trickle and the Dead Sea began to dry up.
In 1900, the river discharged 1.2 trillion litres a year into the Dead Sea, but water levels in the river today are barely 10% of the natural flow. The Jordanian and Israeli potash industries in the southern, largely industrial Dead Sea region exacerbate the water loss by accelerating evaporation in their production processes. The impact is manifested in sink holes, created when underground salt gets washed away by the infiltrating subsurface freshwater flow. Particularly ubiquitous on the western, Israeli side of the Dead Sea, the ground literally opens up – with people, farming equipment and even trucks falling in. Perhaps the most acute environmental consequence, though, is the 27m drop in the sea’s water level and the long and discouraging walks now required to reach the edge of the retreating beach.
Several solutions have been considered to bring water back to the