by Laila Azzeh | Oct 14, 2014 HRH Princess Basma with winners of the Queen Alia Competition for Social Responsibility at a ceremony on Tuesday (Petra photo) AMMAN — The Queen Alia Competition for Social Responsibility this year challenged students to come up with designs for eco-mosques. To compete for the 2013/2014 “Jo-Green” award, university […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Oct 13, 2014 Authorities have dismantled over 11,625 illegal pipes since the Water Ministry launched a nationwide campaign in August last year to end violations on the water network (Photo courtesy of Water Ministry) AMMAN — The authorities sealed 45 illegal wells in September within an ongoing campaign to end all […]

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BEIRUT: A ministerial report calling for the construction of waste-treatment centers in the Batroun district was bitterly disputed by Telecoms Minister Boutros Harb Friday. “The city and people of Chekka have suffered for decades from a dangerous environmental problem,” Harb said. Chekka suffers from the “highest cancer prevalence rate in Lebanon” due to the fact […]

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by Hana Namrouqa | Oct 12, 2014 AMMAN — Despite the ban on leaded-paint in Jordan, walls of schools and old buildings remain coated with lead-based paint, posing health hazards for children in particular, an environmentalist said on Sunday. Jordan Environment Society (JES) Executive Director Ahmad Kofahi said despite a decision to ban the use […]

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by Mohammad Ghazal | Oct 12, 2014 AMMAN — The illegal change of circuit breakers in households delays the process of issuing approvals for installing solar systems at these houses, according to the Jordanian Electric Power Co. Ltd. (JEPCO). “There have been several complaints over the past period that there are delays by the power […]

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A deal to connect Rawabi to the water supply sparked a furious response from settlers, even as a compromise led to another row. Danny Rubinstein 10.07.14 About two weeks ago, after a long drawn-out battle, an agreement was finally reached between the Palestinian Authority and Israel’s Water Authority over connecting the new Palestinian city of […]

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Settlers have been using this tactic for years to strengthen their hold on the territory. By Zafrir Rinat | Oct. 13, 2014 Palestinians have begun marking hiking trails and putting up signs for tourist attractions in the West Bank, copying a tactic settlers have employed for years in an effort to strengthen their hold on […]

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Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz should seize the opportunity to reevaluate a decision to turn an unimpressive area in East Jerusalem into a national park – which is aimed at preventing the expansion of adjacent Palestinian neighborhoods. Haaretz Editorial | Oct. 2, 2013 Walking through the area designated for the Mount Scopus Slopes National Park […]

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Liat Colllins 10/9/2014 Environmentalists say that searching for fossil fuels, such as the recently nixed oil-shale drilling project in the Elah Valley area, belongs to the past. In an area where tradition holds that David fought Goliath, it is easy to use words like “epic” and “historic” when describing a battle, but this particular clash […]

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Amir Peretz overcame naysayers who mocked the Iron Dome, and now he hopes to do the same with his plans for ‘environmental justice.’ Amir Peretz and Mayor of Sderot Eli Moyal attend a tree planting ceremony in Sderot in February 2007.. (photo credit:AMIR COHEN – REUTERS) The headline in the newspaper could not have been […]

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introduction to special issue By: Ahmad Damen Habitat is not your usual word. A look at the English dictionary definition reveals a number of meanings: The natural environment of an organism; a place that is natural for its life and growth. For example, a desert habitat and all the wildlife thriving there. A place where […]

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by: Roubina Bassous Ghattas A habitat, or biome, is the type of environment in which plants and animals live. Habitat is dictated by climate, geography, and the kinds of plants that grow in that particular environment. Palestinian territory is a unique element of the Mediterranean eco-region. It displays a wide variation in elevation, geology, and […]

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Issue: 198, Oct 2014 tavble of contents of special issue Personality of the Month – Adnan Budieri Al-Bariyah-a Unique Habitat Zone | By: Hamdan Taha Cultures of Habitat | By: Sami Backleh Eyes of a Thief Floral Diversity in Palestine | By: Mutaz Ali AlQutob Habitat | By: Ahmad Damen Habitat and Solid Waste Management […]

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Green Economy – Regional Consultants Meeting & Tours for Tour Guides A second regional meeting of the “Green Economy Initiatives” (GEI) project was held with the 3 hired business consultants – Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian – in late August. Consultants reviewed the list of the local “green economy” businesses that each one identified in their […]

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Central worry is foreign species invading from the Red Sea. By Zafrir Rinat 06.10.14 A group of 18 scientists specializing in marine ecosystems have published a warning about the ecological consequences of the Egyptian government’s plan to expand the Suez Canal by building a new, larger and deeper waterway parallel to the present one. The […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 10/05/2014 Umm Batin residents recently recieved machines that convert kitchen waste and animal manure into usable cooking gas and liquid fertilizer. Beduin residents of Umm Batin, a village just northeast of Beersheba, are transforming their trash into usable cooking gas in their homes, as part of an Environmental Protection Ministry initiative to […]

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Morocco has secured a $519 million loan from the World Bank to partly finance two solar power plants with a combined capacity of up to 350 megawatts (MW), the second phase of the 500 MW Ouarzazate project, the bank said in a statement on Wednesday. Results of tenders for construction of the two plants near […]

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Osama Habib| The Daily Star BEIRUT: The first airborne oil and gas surveillance operation over parts of Lebanon began Friday in another bid by the authorities to assess the quantities of oil and gas present in the country. The U.S. Company NEOS Geo Solutions, which signed a contract with the ministry of energy in January, […]

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BEIRUT: Lebanon launched its first control room to better monitor the country’s natural resources with support from the National Council for Scientific Research, which described the venture as essential for the economy. “With the impact of climate change and the rise in incidents of drought, forest fire, land degradation, flooding and random construction proliferating, the […]

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MOHAMED EL-ASHRY 4/10/2014 On September 23, at the invitation of the UN Secretary-General, 100 Heads of State and Government, including 9 from Arab countries, were joined by more than 800 leaders from business, finance, and civil society, at the Climate Summit in New York. The purpose of the Summit was to raise political momentum for […]

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