By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Watching and studying birds is an unconventional hobby for teenagers, but for Hanan Abu Shanab, analysing birds’ behaviour and their origins is her pastime. “Studying migratory and resident birds in Jordan, their route and challenges they face during migration has become an important and interesting topic to me, which I […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/23/2011 07:09 Jerusalem fire and rescue services respond to 180 incidents of out-of-control bonfires over the course of celebrations. There was a significant rise in respirable particulates in the air following Lag Ba’omer bonfires on Saturday night, measurements taken by the Environmental Protection Ministry showed. The increase began about an hour after […]

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Study: Water shortages worst in Middle East May 18, 2011 10:12 AM (Last updated: May 18, 2011 10:17 AM) By Michael Casey Associated Press Key emerging economies and oil rich nations export water issues to ensure food security through African ‘land grab’ (Maplecroft) Key emerging economies and oil rich nations export water issues to ensure […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/19/2011 06:03 Prof. Shani to Channel 2: Water crisis has ended; Water Authority: We are missing 1 billion cubic meters of water due to 6-year drought. Talkbacks (2) While the former head of the Water Authority told Channel 2 news on Wednesday evening that Israel has emerged from its water crisis, statistics […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/19/2011 06:07 Inaction, they warn, would eventually lead to Ein Bokek hotels being flooded. Talkbacks (1) The 20 million tons of salt that burden the southern portion of the Dead Sea and are likely to eventually cause flooding at the local hotels must be harvested and dumped in the northern portion of […]

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By Odeh Al Jayyousi The collective effort to conserve our forests, manifested in the campaign to protect Bergesh Forest in northern Jordan, is a positive sign of vitality of the green movement. Sustaining the momentum of the green movement in Jordan and listening to its demands would be an indicator of good governance that can […]

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By Abeer Numan AMMAN – The water of the Disi basin is not polluted and is potable, Jordanian Geologists Association President Bahjat Al Adwan said on Tuesday, dismissing a report on a news website claiming otherwise. Adwan, speaking to The Jordan Times over the phone, denied claims that the basin water is radioactively contaminated. Adwan […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Old sewage networks in south Amman will be revamped and new pipes installed starting this year to raise the number of households linked to sewage services by 7 per cent, a senior government official said on Sunday. Under a $2.7 million agreement signed yesterday, sewage services in south Amman will […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Land bordering part of the heavily polluted Zarqa River will be turned into a breathing space by the end of the year under a pilot project designed to address one of the country’s main environment hotspots. Under two agreements signed on Tuesday, a 500-metre section of the riverbank will be […]

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May 19, 2011 03:06 AM (Last updated: May 19, 2011 10:40 AM) By Van Meguerditchian BEIRUT: More than 7,000 Lebanese Red Cross volunteers are working to spread humanitarian and environmental values throughout the country as part of a campaign entitled “Hand to Hand to Make a Greener Difference.” The LRC project, which is in partnership […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/16/2011 03:49 Notorious garbage dump near Ben Gurion Airport goes green; when finished the park will be three times the size of Central Park in New York City. Talkbacks (2) As 18-wheeler trucks usher in tons of refuse to a waste transfer station abuzz with flies and foul odors, the brown hilltop […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/18/2011 04:35 Teams go door-to-door distributing buckets as part of wider environmental project to reduce landfill mass. Talkbacks (2) Waste separation specialists are going door-to-door in Ra’anana distributing small brown garbage cans and teaching residents how to properly separate their wet and dry waste, part of a larger waste separation initiative beginning […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/14/2011 23:59 Construction part of an effort to reduce illegal dumping, the IDF Spokesman’s Office says. The civil administration released a progress report late on Thursday detailing the status of two solid waste facilities to be built in the West Bank – El-Minya in Bethlehem and Ramun in Ramallah – in hopes […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Jabal Masouda has been removed from Jordan’s list of proposed protected areas following local community pressure, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) announced on Thursday. According to RSCN Director Yehya Khaled, plans to announce Jabal Masouda – a region near Petra home to locally and internationally threatened […]

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Syria needs to tackle its growing trash problem. By Muhammad Atef Fares Al-Ghozlanieh plant and landfill outside Damascus processes 250 tonnes of waste daily. It is the only place in the country where compostable waste is treated. In recent years, waste management has become an acute problem in Syria. The country’s rapid population growth – […]

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By Simona Sikimic The Daily Star A two-month training drive for Civil Defense and Lebanese Army personnel has now started in earnest to mitigate the risk of the upcoming annual fire season. A two-month training drive for Civil Defense and Lebanese Army personnel has now started in earnest to mitigate the risk of the upcoming […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – As the rainy season comes to a close, storage levels remain disappointing at the Kingdom’s major dams, which hold 44 per cent of their 217-million-cubic-metre (mcm) capacity, an official at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation said on Saturday. Although several recent khamsini depressions have brought heavy rain, storage at […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/13/2011 04:57 Even after the most productive April since 2003, Water Authority warns that the country is still in a critical situation regarding water consumption. As the country continues to get inundated with unseasonable rainfall, the Water Authority warns that the country is still in a critical situation regarding water consumption, even […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 05/04/2011 23:38 Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan is thinking globally and acting locally. Before setting off for New York to take part in the 19th United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, which began this week, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan spoke with The Jerusalem Post about his intended contributions to the conference, […]

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By JORDANA HORN 05/13/2011 05:03 Erdan was in New York to discuss sustainable development, but used his time at the podium to respond to speeches attacking Israel. Talkbacks (1) NEW YORK – Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan on Wednesday slammed Arab states for hurling invective at Israel during a meeting in the UN General Assembly. […]

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