appendix 2-a. detailed listing of the damages in the governorates of south lebanon, bekaa and ...

409 Pages·2007·13.92 MB·English

LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT COPYRIGHTS
FOR GREENING RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION AND REFORM PRELIMINARY PAGES
Copyright C 2007
By the UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Beirut, Lebanon
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without prior permission of UNDP. All information and opinions listed in this file
are exclusive to the author and do not necessarily reflect the UN point of view, especially the
UNDP or any of the member states.
Cover, backpage and separators design: Joumana Samaha (UNDP/MoE Ozone Office)

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DISCLAIMER
All information and opinions listed in this report are exclusive to the author and does not
necessarily reflect the UN point of view, especially the UNDP or any of the member states.
Although all reasonable efforts have been made to present accurate information, UNDP or
ELARD assume no legal responsibility for the accuracy of presentations, comments, results
or recommendations in this report.

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LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT PREFACE
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PREFACE FROM THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT

Peace & Good Will Win Over War & Evil…

Lebanese Citizens and Citizens of the Globe,

“We Should All Be Working Together
To Safeguard Environment
For A Better Quality of Life
& For a Better World”

When we truly think sustainable ecological development we can not wipe from our collective
memories major environmental disasters. The past does leave us clues to learn from but… are
we listening…
Japan, 60 years ago… the nuclear bomb of World War II… Now, there is a permanent "Sit
In" in front of the White House in Washington that civil society is maintaining so we shall
not forget…
Seveso 30 years ago… The 2,4,5T herbicide manufacturing industry blew up releasing
dioxins… and environment became a priority and its civil movement in Italy keeps reminding
us all so we shall not forget…
Bhopal 20 years ago, Union Carbide accident released methylisocyanates… and people in
India are still struggling from its adverse effects on public health… research is still being
conducted and articles are still being written so we shall not forget…
Ukraine 2 years after Bhopal… Chernobyl a nuclear power plant blew up… Then
environment became a priority in Europe and Green Parties grew to be heard and gained
more seats in the federal parliament thus influencing policy so we shall not forget…
Then Minamata in Japan…Mercury was released with industrial effluents contaminating the
seafood chain… to commemorate that, the Japanese people built the Minamata museum so
that generations shall not forget…
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Toulouse, France, 6 years ago in 2001… an ammonium nitrate plant blew up causing an
explosion equivalent to an earthquake of 3.4 on the Richter scale… major European
legislation was enacted, so we shall not forget…
Last but not least, the most recent environmental catastrophe on the east coast of the
Mediterranean is the Jiyeh power plant incident caused by the barbaric Israeli war on
Lebanon spilling 12,000 – 15,000 Tones of Heavy Fuel Oil; now:
Oil Spill + Mediterranean Sea = Black Sea
This new formula was devised so we shall not forget…
Yes indeed, the years of civil strife in Lebanon were difficult and we all thought that if we
survived them we would have stood the test of most difficult times... until we all witnessed
2006 in all its vivid events…
Lebanon just before the July/August 2006 War was ranking 35 out of 133 countries on the
Environment Performance Index (EPI) and one of the top ten destination for tourism, that for
sure was not agreeable too many…
The July/August 2006 war caused severe impact on the environment. General severe
environmental degradation was the end result. It is important for the collective memory of the
World to share Lebanon’s vivid adverse effect on environment resulting from the barbaric
War. Three major environmental disasters emanated from the War.
1. The Oil Spill on the East Coast of the Mediterranean Sea: 150 Km of Lebanese coast
was polluted with heavy fuel oil. Impacts were recorded on public health, on
environmentally sensitive ecosystems like the Palm Islands protected area, on nature
based tourism like public sandy beaches and private tourism service providers on the
coast line and finally on economy such as the livelihoods of fishermen and
communities dependent on healthy marine life.
2. The waste/rubble that was generated due to the heavily bombarded residential areas
of the southern suburbs of the Beirut and the south of Lebanon, transport
infrastructure, and other industrial facilities. The waste generated overburdened the
existing solid waste management operations and lead to multiple haphazard solid
waste dumps from where pollution emissions and effluents will find their way in to
air and water bodies.
3. Unexploded ordinance (UXOs) sporadically sprinkled by Israeli Defense Forces
infecting massive areas of land that is currently utilized for agriculture, reforestation,
eco-tourism and other economically sustainable activities. These UXOs on top of the
landmines that IDF had left behind upon their withdrawal in 2000 are seriously
hindering rural development plans and programmes and exerting immense pressure
on rural communities forcing them to internally migrate to urban environments thus
leading to increased environment degradation in rural areas and overloading man-
made-environments in urbanized cities.

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Substantial progress has been made on combating these major environmental catastrophes.
This would not have been possible without the 3Ps, partnership, partnership and more
partnership with local, national and international partners in the United Nations,
Governments, Private Sector, Civil Society Groups and Academia. Much has been
accomplished but much more still needs to be learned and done.
Much is recorded in the report “Lebanon Rapid Environmental Assessment for Greening
Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform - 2006” about the impacts of the War. This is an
opportune moment to thank UNDP-Lebanon for its generous financial contributions and for
inviting us to write this preface to flag up the major effects of the war on the environment,
and ELARD for its hard work, and Lebanese citizens who were alertly present during all the
days and difficult hours of the War and documenting events for the sake of history and
starting the process for extracting lessons to be learned.
Undoubtedly, the War damaged Lebanon’s environment in all its physical, chemical,
biological and social forms, but it failed to undermine the Lebanese Passion, Perseverance,
and Patience to commit to a better quality of life for a better Mediterranean and World.
We are glad many of our fellow citizens and families have survived the war and God Bless
the Lebanese souls that were lost... after all,

“For Change We Need Martyr…
For Martyr We Need Men…
For Men We Need Believers in Better a Lebanon & a Just
World…”

Fellow citizens of the World, remember that Belief, Resistance, Courage, Faith and Hope are
the ingredients and renewable energy source that will allow us all to prevail and let peace &
good will win over war & evil.
Team Members
Ministry of Environment
Beirut, 29 January, 2007

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LEBANON RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Lebanon Rapid Environmental Assessment for Greening Recovery, Reconstruction and
Reform was funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed
by Earth Link and Advanced Resources Development (ELARD). This initiative was closely
coordinated with and supported by the Lebanese Ministry of Environment (MoE). UNDP
and ELARD also maintained coordination during the implementation of this study with the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Post-Conflict Branch. The report
contributors are listed below.
ELARD Team (listed by chapter/role):
Team Leader Ricardo Khoury
Team Coordinator Karen Manasfi
Construction: Task Leader: Dana Nasr
Special Contributors: Anwar Ali (UNDP), Joseph Zbeide
(Nakhleh, Zgheib and Co.)
Transport: Task Leader: Samar Abou Raad
Team Member: Rami Semaan
Energy Task Leader: Vahakn Kabakian
Industry Task Leader: Vahakn Kabakian
Team Member: Rabih Fayad
Agriculture: Task Leader: Fadi Asmar
Special contributors: Jean Stephan, Chadi Mhanna,
Brahim Hawi, Imad Nahhal, Ave Khoury, Georges Frem,
Salim Roukoz (MoA)
Solid waste: Task Leader: Rabih Fayad
Air: Task Leader: Vahakn Kabakian
Water and Soil Task Leader: Nadim Farajalla
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Biodiversity: Task Leader: Mirna Semaan
Team Members: Mounir Bou Said (fauna), Imad Seoud
(marine biodiversity), Assaad Serhal (SPNL) (avifauna)

Special Contributors:
Hala Kilani (IUCN)
Simon Anstey (IUCN)
Dr. Ghassan Jaradi (literature, information and pictures)
Professor Rick Steiner
Ramiz Dalli (photos and information from the South)
Dima Sader (Council for Development and
Reconstruction, Economic and Social Fund for
Development)
Ameer Abdalla (IUCN Global Marine Program)
Rami Salman (IUCN Med Center)
Khiam Municipality
Cultural Heritage: Task Leader: Carole Atallah
Special Contributors: Dr. Frederic Husseini (Director
General of Antiquities), Ali Badawi, Khaled Rifai, Tania
Zaven Rizk (Directorate General of Antiquities)
Environmental Law: Task Leader: Carla Hanna
Team Members: Philippe Kerjolis (international law),
Cynthia Chidiac (national law)
Research Assistants: Alain Doumit
Ghada Chehab
Karen Deeb
Karen Moarkech
Marc Beyrouthi
Maya Mhanna
Nadine Aoun
Peer Reviewers Ramez Kayal, Dana Nasr, Karen Manasfi

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MoE Team (peer review):
Team Leader Dr. Berj Hatjian (Director General of Environment)
Coordinator Ghada Mitri
UNDP/MoE Manal Moussallem
Coordinator
Introduction Marie Chemaly
Vivianne Sassine
Ramzi Fanous
Construction: Adel Yacoub
Lina Yamout
Jeryes Berbari
Nadim Mroueh
Bassam Sabbagh
Mohamad Baraki
Rola Sheikh
Transport: Jeryes Berbari
Rola Sheikh
Energy Lina Yamout
Jeryes Berbari
Samih Wehbe
Youssef Naddaf
Industry Lina Yamout
Olfat Hamdan
Agriculture: Lara Samaha
Nabil Assaf
George Akl
Solid waste: Lina Yamout
Jeryes Berbari
Bassam Sabbagh
Mohamad Baraki
Samih Wehbe
Hanna Bu Habib
Sabine Ghosn
Air: Jeryes Berbari
Youssef Naddaf
Water and Soil Adel Yacoub
Khalil Zein
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Biodiversity Lina Yamout
Lara Samaha
Nancy Awad
Grace Rachid
Rasha Kanj
Cultural Heritage Lara Samaha
Environmental law Hind Joubran
Samar Malek
Maya Abi Zeid Daou

UNEP Team (peer review of selected chapters):
Muralee Thummarukudy
Mike Cowing
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