The Daily Star- The Lebanese Environment Ministry is in the process of making Beirut’s landmark Raouche rocks a “natural site,” Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk said during the launching of a new marine biodiversity report Tuesday.

 

The Environment Ministry submitted a draft law to the Shura Council on March 17 to grant the area “natural site” status, he explained. This is the first step before the law is passed on to the council, where it may become law.

 

As a natural site, all infrastructure projects conducted in the area surrounding Raouche rocks will have to go through an approval process by the Environment Ministry.

 

The announcement came during the launching of an in-depth marine biodiversity report conducted by the Environment Ministry in collaboration with several other institutions. The report examines the marine biodiversity of six sites in Lebanon: Anfeh, Ras al-Chaqaa, Raouche, Sidon rocks, Tyre rocks and Naqoura.

 

The field surveys of the sites were conducted in 2012 and 2013 by the Regional Activity Center for Specially Protected Areas but the results have now been aggregated in this 2015 report which details the marine makeup of these sites.

 

The report itself will be available online for the general public later this week, a source at the Environment Ministry said.

 

Machnouk said that three of the six sites examined will go on to become natural reserves, giving them a protected status, and the results of the report will be used to determine which ones receive this status.

 

As a protected site, infrastructure projects will be completely banned around these sites and fishing may also be prohibited depending on the nature of the site. This differs from the “natural site” status which the Raouche may receive – pending approval by the Shura Council and the Cabinet – which is more lenient.

 

 

PHOTO: Minister of Environment Mohamed Machnouk announces the results of a new marine biodiversity report in Beirut, Tuesday, April 14, 2015.

CREDIT: The Daily Star/Khalil Hassan.