24/04/2013 MENA Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Bahaa Eddin has called for the prohibition of rice cultivation in desert lands, which is already forbidden by law, so as to reduce overdraft of water from aquifers. “The groundwater went down 2.5 meters,” he warned in a statement Wednesday. “Future generations may not find water.” His […]

Read the rest of this entry »

07/04/2013 Steven Viney As government politics continues to remain in a state of turbulent and violent uncertainty and instability — clashes abound, parliamentary election dates are announced and soon canceled, farmer loan forgiveness is promised with no follow-through — the lives of Egypt’s farmers are going from bad to worse. When, in 2009, the World […]

Read the rest of this entry »

16/04/2013 Reuters Egypt’s Islamist-led government must be dreaming if it expects a bumper wheat harvest over the next six weeks that will save the country billions of dollars in imports, says farmer Farid Boshra Abdel Malek. “How can they expect any increase in wheat production when they are not providing us with water, fuel for […]

Read the rest of this entry »

12/04/2013 Al-Masry Al-Youm Agriculture Minister Salah Abdel Momen commissioned the Agricultural Research Center to review their recommendations for harvesting wheat, corn, cotton and rice following the release of new information regarding the impact of climate change on crop cycles. “The current year witnessed climate changes that ordinary citizens noticed, including underground fluctuations and sharp rises […]

Read the rest of this entry »

14/04/2013 Steven Viney Researching the oil and gas industry and the details of its practices in Egypt can be an extremely exhausting task. Reasons for this range from institutional corruption to scattered information that is difficult to locate and unclear responsibilities among ministries and personnel, to name but a few. Even within a single governing […]

Read the rest of this entry »

11/04/2013 Al-Masry Al-Youm Ninety percent of the diesel that spilled into Lake Nasser on Sunday has already evaporated due to high temperatures in Aswan, the Environment Ministry claimed on Thursday. The rest of the spill was mopped up by the Armed Forces with huge sponges, the ministry alleged. Preliminary investigations suggested that the spillage came […]

Read the rest of this entry »

12/04/2013 Rana Khaled News about the slaughtering of three whale sharks in Suez in the past weeks triggered a wave of anger among marine biologists and environmental organizations across Egypt. The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) condemned the recurring slaughter of this peaceful and endangered species, describing it as a “serious environmental crime.” […]

Read the rest of this entry »

22/04/2013 Louise Sarant To illustrate and provide scientific information about Egypt’s rich biodiversity and animals, the American University in Cairo Press recently published a series of nature foldouts. The foldouts, titled “Egypt’s Flora and Fauna,” “Birds of the Nile Valley,” “Ancient Egypt’s Wildlife” and “Egypt’s Prehistoric Fauna,” are written and illustrated by California-based writer and […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Thu, 25/04/2013 Steven Viney Louise Sarant This piece was written for Egypt Independent’s final weekly print edition, which was banned from going to press. Two months before word about Egypt Independent’s potential closure first surfaced, Noor Noor, executive coordinator of the NGO Nature Conservation Egypt, discussed the loss at stake. “Egypt Independent is one of […]

Read the rest of this entry »

April 27, 2013 By Samya Kullab BEIRUT: From the shore, the site of Lebanon’s potential maritime oil and gas reserve appears a vast expanse of blue sea. But well below the surface water, a depth impenetrable even by the sun’s rays, lie 10 state-demarcated exploration blocks still to be auctioned off to oil companies, in […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 04/24/2013 Letter to Netanyahu says decision whether or not to export Israel’s natural gas is a weighty one that demands public discussion. TAt an emergency session of the Knesset’s Social-Environment Lobby on Wednesday, some 60 MKs signed a letter demanding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu bring the issue of determining gas export […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 04/25/2013 CEO of Electric Corp. says production potential of existing infrastructure is insufficient to create ample reserve. Despite the influx of natural gas from the Tamar reservoir, the country is still likely to face an alarmingly low electricity reserve this summer, similar to that of last year, Israel Electric Corporation CEO and […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 04/25/2013 Israeli “smart water” network and software management firm Whitewater awarded at ceremony in New York. The Israeli “smart water” network and software management firm Whitewater was named a 2013 Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer at a ceremony in New York earlier this week. Whitewater received the award at the sixth annual Bloomberg […]

Read the rest of this entry »

Resident of Hamas-ruled territory first started producing charcoal using trees IDF cut down to deprive terrorists of cover when they fire rockets Associated Press Published: 04.27.13 In adapting to years of border blockades and shortages, Palestinians in Gaza have become experts at recycling and making new out of old. That includes turning scrap wood into […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 04/29/2013 Bonfires, meteorological conditions during Lag Ba’omer stimulate hike up air pollution 17 times normal levels. By sunrise on Lag Ba’omer Sunday, air pollution levels had risen up to 17 times their normal values across the country, the Environmental Protection Ministry reported. As Israeli revelers created bonfires across the country beginning Saturday […]

Read the rest of this entry »

“Who would have thought that recycling can make such a difference? I can’t thank UNRWA enough for changing my little boy’s life”, said the mother of 7-year-old Hadi El Khatib, a resident of Ein El Hilweh refugee camp, during a recycling ceremony celebrating UNRWA Lebanon Field Office’s new initiative “Give Someone an Opportunity: Recycling Makes […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 04/24/2013 Order of Saint Lazarus pledges to fund rehabilitation of Azariya path. n a small Palestinian village where Jesus was said to have brought Lazarus back to life, sewage now runs through the streets and outdated walking paths expose pilgrims neither to local people nor to nature, an ecological architect told a […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD 04/25/2013 Jerusalem deputy mayor: Nothing can be done in Jerusalem without engaging city’s different faiths. International environmentalists, spiritual leaders, government officials and business leaders gathered for a third day to discuss practical solutions for creating greater environmental and economic sustainability at the YMCA in Jerusalem on Wednesday. The First International Symposium […]

Read the rest of this entry »

By SHARON UDASIN 04/23/2013 Protesters: Conference organizers, government officials have a capitalist agenda, are betraying the public. Environmental activists protested outside and repeatedly interrupted speeches during the Fifth National Energy Convention on Monday morning, slamming the government for hijacking the public’s natural gas resources. Standing outside Tel Aviv’s Hilton Hotel with banners, the protesters from […]

Read the rest of this entry »

HAARETZ In new report, Greenpeace says Israel must revolutionize its energy consumption by ensuring half of its electricity comes from renewable sources within 30 years. By Zafrir Rinat | Apr.22, 2013 srael can and must revolutionize its energy consumption such that within 30 years half of its electricity comes from renewable sources, the international environmental […]

Read the rest of this entry »