full report: http://www.mahmiyat.ps/uploads/171013%20HSF_Bethlehem_Printed%20Version_NC.pdf

Forward:

This publication bases on the report “Environmental conservation and protected
areas in Palestine: Challenges and Opportunities” by Dr. Mazin Qumsieh, Betlehem
University and Dr. Zuhair Amr, Jordan University of Science and Technology,
which have been contracted by Hanns Seidel Foundation for this task. The report
has been written in the framework of a project funded by the European Union’s
Partnership for Peace initiative. The aim of the report is to portray the current
state of nature protection in Palestine, to fathom the potential for improved
environmental conservation and nature reserve management, and to suggest
priorities for future environmental protection efforts.

The current version is the result of an intense review process, which involved
Palestinian Experts, the Environment Quality Authority as well as the team of
Hanns Seidel Foundation. In addition to that, it has been edited to improve the
reading. Hence, the original report written by the contracted authors has been
considerably altered and shortened.

Such a review always requires compromises between the original text and all
the studied opinions. Often, such a compromise will not entirely please neither
the authors, nor the reviewers and the contracting party. Nevertheless, we have
carried out a lot of effort to harmonize all positions and to include the very many
recommendations and comments, while keeping to the original. All mistakes and
inaccuracies, naturally, can be entirely attributed to the contracting authority,
which is the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

Our foundation would like to thank the authors of the report and all other
contributors for their insight and effort. We hope that the report will help to
intensify the incumbent discussion on nature protection in Palestine. The first
seven chapters of the publication focus on the current setting and the Palestinian
stakeholders of environmental conservation. It hereby discusses, among other
topics, environmental education and challenges, especially regarding nature
reserves managed by the Palestinian Authority. The eighth chapter provides a
list of priorities and recommendations that could represent a yardstick for future
efforts of Palestinian environmental stakeholders and the international donor
community.

Richard Asbeck
Representative of Hanns Seidel Foundation in Jerusalem