The Fort Worth Press - Pollution clean-up aims to create Gaza's first nature reserve

USD -
AED 3.673031
AFN 70.133986
ALL 94.635739
AMD 399.17399
ANG 1.799356
AOA 911.999459
ARS 1025.610128
AUD 1.60155
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.703082
BAM 1.8785
BBD 2.015848
BDT 119.310378
BGN 1.880197
BHD 0.376795
BIF 2952.312347
BMD 1
BND 1.356673
BOB 6.899102
BRL 6.376797
BSD 0.998415
BTN 84.985833
BWP 13.866398
BYN 3.267349
BYR 19600
BZD 2.009028
CAD 1.43405
CDF 2870.000253
CHF 0.884904
CLF 0.035853
CLP 989.289866
CNY 7.2988
CNH 7.306215
COP 4393.36
CRC 506.939442
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.90693
CZK 24.17465
DJF 177.793786
DKK 7.173032
DOP 60.817365
DZD 135.042981
EGP 50.761042
ERN 15
ETB 127.121932
EUR 0.959099
FJD 2.31865
FKP 0.791982
GBP 0.782901
GEL 2.810241
GGP 0.791982
GHS 14.676079
GIP 0.791982
GMD 72.000164
GNF 8628.919944
GTQ 7.690535
GYD 208.884407
HKD 7.77545
HNL 25.367142
HRK 7.172906
HTG 130.547952
HUF 395.30326
IDR 16181.1
ILS 3.652565
IMP 0.791982
INR 85.398004
IQD 1307.880709
IRR 42087.5015
ISK 139.550177
JEP 0.791982
JMD 155.558757
JOD 0.709299
JPY 155.373954
KES 129.040105
KGS 87.00044
KHR 4012.870384
KMF 466.124963
KPW 899.999441
KRW 1456.535047
KWD 0.30818
KYD 0.832061
KZT 517.226144
LAK 21834.509917
LBP 89407.001873
LKR 294.251549
LRD 181.712529
LSL 18.564664
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.901311
MAD 10.068386
MDL 18.420977
MGA 4709.215771
MKD 59.098113
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.99987
MOP 7.98713
MRU 39.855929
MUR 47.069763
MVR 15.402829
MWK 1731.258704
MXN 20.164602
MYR 4.486979
MZN 63.903729
NAD 18.564664
NGN 1541.159991
NIO 36.738222
NOK 11.27375
NPR 135.977525
NZD 1.768973
OMR 0.384508
PAB 0.998415
PEN 3.717812
PGK 4.05225
PHP 58.660558
PKR 277.955434
PLN 4.094085
PYG 7786.582145
QAR 3.631177
RON 4.7843
RSD 112.517971
RUB 99.841749
RWF 1392.786822
SAR 3.74859
SBD 8.383555
SCR 14.257023
SDG 601.499535
SEK 10.866896
SGD 1.3505
SHP 0.791982
SLE 22.789851
SLL 20969.503029
SOS 570.619027
SRD 35.058002
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.736493
SYP 2512.530243
SZL 18.572732
THB 34.140375
TJS 10.922538
TMT 3.51
TND 3.183499
TOP 2.342101
TRY 35.195302
TTD 6.784805
TWD 32.709099
TZS 2420.583999
UAH 41.863132
UGX 3654.612688
UYU 44.441243
UZS 12889.593238
VES 51.575851
VND 25430
VUV 118.722003
WST 2.762788
XAF 630.031215
XAG 0.033795
XAU 0.000382
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.7655
XOF 630.031215
XPF 114.546415
YER 250.375032
ZAR 18.750415
ZMK 9001.189851
ZMW 27.630985
ZWL 321.999592
  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

Pollution clean-up aims to create Gaza's first nature reserve
Pollution clean-up aims to create Gaza's first nature reserve

Pollution clean-up aims to create Gaza's first nature reserve

The road meandering towards Gaza Valley is notorious for the stench of pollution choking the plant and animal life that once flourished in the Palestinian enclave's biggest wetland.

Text size:

That is expected to change after the sullied habitat was declared Gaza's first nature reserve, set for a UN-backed, decade long clean-up effort under the territory's Hamas Islamist rulers.

"The valley will return to its beautiful natural state" for local people to walk through and enjoy, said Jaber Abu Hajeer, the mayor of the area known as Wadi Gaza.

The fouling of the valley with raw sewerage, wastewater and rubbish is a consequence of chronic under-development in the strip that has been blockaded by Israel since 2007.

Gaza's poor infrastructure cannot manage the waste produced by a population that has rapidly grown to 2.3 million.

For more than three decades, sewage was pumped straight into Wadi Gaza and parts of its became dumping grounds for household waste and construction debris.

What was once a "beautiful nature reserve" gradually became "a swamp full of insects, snakes and bacteria, an out-of-control dump," said Abdel-Fattah Abd Rabbo, an environmental specialist at the Islamic University of Gaza.

Until last year, some 16,000 cubic metres of wastewater were pumped into the valley every day, say local authorities, causing a range of health problems for families living along the waterway that empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

Local resident Abdulkarim al-Louh said "unfortunately, due to the political situation that we are living under, the reserve got destroyed and was transformed into a waste water swamp".

He said he hoped that reversing the damage "will clear the area of the diseases, water waste, insects and mosquitos that all Wadi Gaza residents suffer from".

- 'Green belt' -

The pumping of untreated effluent into the valley stopped last year, when a new treatment plant opened in central Gaza, but Wadi Gaza's full rehabilitation is expected to take time.

The United Nations Development Programme is backing a 10-year, $66 million effort, led by five local Gazan governments, that aims to make the area an urgently needed ecological oasis.

A UNDP project coordinator, Muhammad Abu Shaaban, said the goal is create a "green belt", rich in biodiversity.

Step one is the clean-up, and municipal staff were on site last week trying to clear the creek of filth.

The next phase is a massive tree-planting effort, ahead of infrastructure improvements including better road access to make the area attractive to local tourists.

Abu Shaaban said the master plan aims to solve "all the environmental issues in the valley", including pollution, encroachment, building violations and "the floods the valley has been suffering from over the years".

Gaza's population, which has endured the crippling blockade and waves of conflict between Hamas and Israel, have few outdoor recreational spaces other than the coastline.

Israel and Egypt tightly control access in and out of Gaza and foreign visitors are largely kept away.

Mayor Hajeer pledged that, when the restoration project is completed, Wadi Gaza will become "a cultural, sporting and tourist attraction".

Abdulrahim Abu al-Konboz, director of solid waste management in Gaza, said all residents "will benefit from this programme since the water that runs through Wadi Gaza will be clean and free of pollutants when it reaches the sea.

"Gaza beach in the summer will be free of the pollution which used to come from the Wadi Gaza area."

W.Knight--TFWP