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Regional Meeting on
Experiences & Best Practices in Environmental Information Development and
Management in |
Disrt. LIMITED UNEP/ROWA/AGEDI/RMEIDM/RS
15 January 2005 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH |
Regional Study
AGU Report
By
Mohammed Ait Belaid
________________
Note: This document has been reproduced
in the form in which it was received, without formal editing. The opinions
expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of
UNEP.
Table of contents
3-
Introduction and background
5-Status
of environmental data and information.
6-Effectiveness
and efficiency of current information systems (include strengths and
weaknesses).
8-Assessment
of general requirements:
9-
Regional and international cooperation.
10-
Opportunities for the future.
11-
Lessons learned and experiences.
12-
Recommendations of priorities for action. Please consider the following:
TASK-1
Please answer the following questions:
What are the focus areas for environmental data and
information in your institution/ country, or region (as applicable to your
case)?
- Groundwater
Modeling and Management of Water Resources.
- Protected
and soil-less Agriculture Technology.
- Modern
Technologies for Monitoring Desertification (GIS/RS).
- Soil
Salinity, Water Logging and Soil Erosion.
- Urbanization
and Land Use Planning.
- Coastal
Zone Management and Development of Marine Resources.
- Integrated Environmental Assessment.
What is the environmental information needs common
across stakeholder groups in your country (region)?
- Basic Environmental Data Accessible to the Users.
- Regular Environmental Reporting and Outlook.
- Set-up and Adoption of Environmental Indicators to follow-up the main environmental Issues.
Is there a national (regional) environmental
information system, initiative, programme, project, etc., that address those
needs? When it started and when it will be completed?, who is overseeing it?
- GEO
process is dealing with the presentation
of a comprehensive reviews and analyses of world wide environmental
conditions, trends and the policies. It is a continuous process
initiated by UNEP: Started in 1997 (GEO-1), 2000 (GEO-2), 2002 (GEO3),
2003 (GEO Year Book) and the coming (GEO-4).
- GEO Data Portal established by UNEP.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of current public
information systems and services provided in your country (region)?
- Data not structured.
- Data not Accessible to the users.
- Data Standards not existing.
- Data Cost to be funded.
What are the preferred information acquisition
methods? Internet, CDs, printed materials, etc.
- Internet/ E-mail.
- CD-Rom.
- Printed
Materials (Reports, Hardcopy).
What are the constrains and barriers to access
environmental information in your country (region)?
- Data Copyright belong to the Departments, which create and up-date data.
- Concept of Data Sharing is not applicable.
- “ Data/information is power “.
- Limited Publication.
Is there a national (regional) programme or project on
environmental indicators? Please provide titles, starting and ending dates,
thematic areas covered, indicate whether it has
been successful and why?
- Priority
Environmental Indicators in
Are there any monitoring programmes (national or
regional) aiming at collecting data and filling in data gaps, what are the
thematic areas covered?
- FAOSTAT
Database initiated and Managed by UN/FAO in order to produce Land Use/
Land Cover Maps both at national and global levels.
- GEO
Reporting Process initiated by UNEP to cover the following fields:
Socio-economy, Land, Freshwater, Forests, Biodiversity, Marine and
coastal areas, Atmosphere, Urban areas.
- Actual
AGEDI initiative to provide cost-effective access to environmental data
to both developed and developing countries.
- Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment initiated by United Nations.
Does your country (region) produce state of
environment (environment outlook) reports? Please give dates produced; what is
the information sources being used in producing this report?
- State Of
- Global Environmental Outlook (GEO including
Please give recommendation to improve public access to
environmental data at the local, national and regional levels (address the
following aspects: policy, institutional, technical, financial,
sustainability).
- Access to environmental data to be facilitated by the Departments, which are in charge of different activities (Agriculture, environment).
- Set-up regulations on copyright and use of environmental data.
- Capacity building and awareness in data handling and analysis.
TASK-2
Name: Global
Environmental Outlook (GEO) Series of Reports for Western Asia Region.
- Lead agency: UNEP.
- Purpose, aims, objectives: presentation of a comprehensive
reviews and analyses of world wide environmental conditions, trends and
the policies available to address them.
- Users: UN Organizations, International
& Regional institutions, Governments, NGOs.
- Methods - a description of the work done: Participatory review and assessment of
global and regional environmental issues (conditions, trends, policies).
- Appropriateness of the approach: Appropriate
- Institutional capacity: Workshop Training
on the GEO Process, Environmental GIS/RS Applications.
- Outcomes and benefits achieved: GEO Report
series (GEO-1, GEO-2, GEO-3, GEO Year Book 2003, Arab GEO).
- Results (impact): environmental data and information on the form of a database
(CD-Rom, Web Portal).
- Effectiveness and efficiency: effective in disseminating information and
data to the users and decision-makers.
- Discussion on the results in relation to the
intensions: there is high
conformity between results and intentions.
- Lessons learned and experiences: Environmental
assessment and reporting, database building, retrospective and prospective
analyses and scenarios.
- Name: Impact of Climate Change in
the
- Lead agency: General Commission for the
Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife. (Former Ministry of Housing, Municipalities and Environment).
- Purpose, aims, objectives: Enabling activities for the preparation of initial
national communication related to the United-Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- Users: UNEP, General Commission,
Governmental institutions, NGOs.
- Methods - a description of the work done: The study was carried out by a national team from the
General Commission of Bahrain, under the supervision of two faculty
members from AGU. The study is composed of four components: Inventory,
Mitigation, Vulnerability and Adaptation using IPCC (Inter-Governmental
Panel on Climate Change) methodologies.
- Appropriateness of the approach: the
approach based on the diagnosis of the existing documents and fieldwork is
appropriate.
- Institutional capacity: General Commission will benefit through
the study team and AGU will benefit also as a main consultant for the
whole project.
- Outcomes and benefits achieved: Study of
the main component based on the existing documents, satellite imagery and
field works. Reports are in compliance with UNFCCC.
- Results (impact): Series of reports and maps covering each component.
- Effectiveness and efficiency: Effective for future UNFCCC.
- Discussion on the results in relation to the
intensions: The results are
encouraging.
- Lessons learned and experiences: Inventory
and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, vulnerability and adaptation
to sea level rise, flow of data and information.
Name: Status
of Coral Reefs in the Kingdom of Bahrain.ćÇŢÚ
- Lead agency: General Commission for the Protection
of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife.
- Purpose, aims and objectives: Studying the status of coral
reefs in the
- Users: pearl divers, fishermen, Ministries
of Environment, Fishery and Industry.
- Methods - a description of the work done: Review of the existing background
documentation, digitizing of the existing maps and production of the
report on the degradation of coral reefs with some possible solutions.
- Appropriateness of the approach: the approach
based on the diagnosis of the existing documents is appropriate.
- Institutional capacity: the study will be the start-up of new
developments in the fields of coral reefs.
- Outcomes and benefits achieved: Status of
the art based on the existing studies.
- Results (impact): Mapping and Inventory of coral reefs.
- Effectiveness and efficiency: Effective for future protection and
management of coral reefs.
- Discussion on the results in relation to the
intensions: The results are
encouraging.
- Lessons learned and experiences: Bibliography,
acquisition of documents and maps, investigation of the status of coral
reefs, main causes of degradation, proposition of possible solutions for
the management of coral reefs.
Name: Atlas
of Desert Habitats in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries. ĂŘáÓ ÇáČíĆÇĘ ÇáŐÍŃÇćíÉ Ýí Ďćá ăĚáÓ ÇáĘÚÇćä ÇáÎáíĚí.
- Lead agency: GCC Countries.
- Purpose, aims, objectives: Preliminary study to establish
an Atlas of desert habitats in the GCC countries, which will provide information
on natural resources, biodiversity, climate and population.
- Users: Environmental institutions in the
GCC Countries, education institutions.
- Methods - a description of the work done: The conceptual study covers the following
areas: inventory of the existing data, type of media, timetable and
estimated costs.
- Appropriateness of the approach: the
approach based on the diagnosis of the existing data is appropriate.
- Institutional capacity: the study will be the start-up of a
comprehensive study, which will be conducted in order to elaborate the
proposed Atlas.
- Outcomes and benefits achieved: Status of
the art based on the existing studies.
- Results (impact): Inventory of natural resources and socio-physical conditions in
desert environment.
- Effectiveness and efficiency: Effective as a feasibility study in order
to evaluate the whole process of producing the Atlas (data, time, cost).
- Discussion on the results in relation to the
intensions: The results are
encouraging.
- Lessons learned and experiences: Inventory
and classification of natural resources, conceptual model elaboration.
Name: Building
International Database for GCC Countries.
- Lead agency:
- Purpose, aims, objectives: To collect, digitize and compile all available GCC
countries maps through student’s studies, thesis and projects to end up
with a digital database for GCC countries.
- Users: AGU Staff Members and
Students.
- Methods - a description of the work done: Data
collection, Digitizing, Editing and compiling the data.
- Appropriateness of the approach: the
approach based on the compilation of the data provided by countries and
the results of research projects is appropriate.
- Institutional capacity: Data gathering, database building.
- Outcomes and benefits achieved: Map of GCC
countries, status of the realized studies.
- Results (impact): Internal database.
- Effectiveness and efficiency: Effective as a pilot study for database
design.
- Discussion on the results in relation to the
intensions: The results are
encouraging.
- Lessons learned and experiences: Structuring
and Designing Databases using GIS layers and Remote Sensing imagery.
Name: Priority
Environmental Indicators in West Asia , Arab Africa
Regions.
- Lead agency: UNEP.
- Purpose, aims and objectives: This study aims atProviding guidelines for development and utilization of
environmental indicators. A core set of priority environmental indicators
addressing some priority themes in the region will be presented:
freshwater resources, land resources, coastal and marine resources,
energy, biodiversity, health and environment.
- Users: UNEP, Countries of the
Regions, Regional Institutions.
- Methods - a description of the work done: Methodology
sheets have been developed for each selected indicator.
- Appropriateness of the approach:
- Institutional capacity: Selection and Definition of Environmental
Indicators.
- Outcomes and benefits
expected orachieved: A Set of Environmental Indicators.
- Results (impact): Environmental
Indicators to be adopted and used via some adjustment by the users.
- Effectiveness and
efficiency: Effective as a
pilot study for Environmental Indicators Definition.
- Discussion on the results in relation to the intensions:
The results are not tested
yet.
- Lessons learned and experiences: Designing a set of standard Environmental Indicators to
answer the needs of countries and institutions.
TASK-3
1- Title:
AGEDI Regional Study: Report on AGU Experience on Environmental
Data.
2-Executive summary
The objective of the study is to collect information and
prepare national and regional reports on the experiences, best practices and status
of environmental data and information systems in
It also aims at establishing a base for regional partnership and networking for environmental data and information, using the experts and the institutions involved in the study as a pool of resources to strengthen and build the capacity of the region in data and information management in support of decision making bearing on sustainable development.
As a
Regional organization, AGU has adopted a methodology which consist in reviewing
and assessing environmental data and information and providing information on
the institution experience both internally and
within the regional and global framework.
In
West-Asia, there is a general lack of reliable up-to-date information and data
on the state of the environment. This relates to the lack of standardization of
data formats and consistent environmental monitoring, data collection and
reporting (GEO-2000, 2000).
3- Introduction and background
The Arabian Gulf University
(AGU) was established in 1980 by the six gulf countries (
AGU is composed of
two Colleges of Medicine and Graduate Studies, which are in turn composed of
many programmes. Some of them are dealing with various environmental issues.
The
-
Desert and Arid Zones Sciences (Water Resources, Desert
Agriculture, Desert Environment).
-
Biotechnology (Agriculture, Environment, Medicine).
-
Technology Management.
-
Environmental Management.
-
Distance Learning.
-
Mental Retardation and Learning Disabilities.
-
Talented and Gifted Children.
The
More than 120 theses
were completed under the sphere of technological studies, out of which more 70%
theses dealt with environmental problems. The research projects covered various
scientific areas of interest to the region, i.e. desert resources, resources
management, desert architecture and energy, pollution control, biotechnology
studies and recently GIS and RS related applications.
AGU, considered as the principal regional center of postgraduate
studies, has given environmental issues a sizable role in its educational,
training and research programmes. AGU is running courses and organizing programmes,
and postgraduate studies in different fields of the environment especially in
desert and arid zones sciences, environmental biotechnology, health and
recently in environmental management.
AGU has established
five academic chairs to support research and development activities; most of
them are related to environmental issues:
-
Chair of Environmental Sciences (Sheikh Zayed).
-
Chair of Desert Agriculture (Sultan Qaboos).
-
Chair of Biotechnology (King Fahad).
-
Chair of Geographical Information Systems (Sheikh Hamad).
-
Chair of Technology Management (Sheikh Essa).
-
Chair of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology (Sheikh Jaber).
4-Methodological approach.
As a Regional
organization, AGU has adopted a methodology which consist in reviewing and
assessing environmental data and information and providing information on AGU
experience both internally and within the regional and global framework.
5-Status of environmental data and information.
AGU has a well-established tradition of serving as a collaborating
center of excellence and between university, governmental agencies and
international and regional organizations. Within this framework, AGU has
realized some interesting projects and produced some environmental data and information
(e.g. GEO reporting process, climate change study, coral reefs study, atlas of
desert habitats, internal database).
a.
Analysis of existing
initiatives and projects.
Global Environmental
Outlook (GEO): Environmental Reporting in
UNEP started a comprehensive assessment process known as
the Global Environment Outlook (GEO). The GEO reports are produced using a
regional and participatory approach. Input is solicited from a wide range of
sources throughout the world, including a network of more than 30 collaborating
centers, UN organizations and independent experts. Draft chapters are reviewed
in regional consultations. GEO-1
the first report in the GEO series was published in 1997. The second report GEO-2000 was published
in 1999. The report is assessing the impact of current environmental policies
and looking for new perspectives. GEO-3 the third report was published in 2002.
This report is based on retrospective (30 years) and prospective (30 years)
analyses and scenarios. GEO Year Book 2003 is the fist annual report published
in 2004.
AGU and the
Impact of Climate
Change in
The purpose of the project is to enable activities for the
preparation of initial national communication related to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The study was carried out by a
national team from the former Ministry of Housing, Municipalities and the
Environment of Bahrain, under the supervision of two faculty members of the
sphere of technological studies of AGU. The study is composed of four
successive steps with the corresponding reports:
-
-
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in
-
Vulnerability Assessment (GCPMREW/AGU, 2003).
-
Adaptation Measures (GCPMREW/AGU, 2004).
AGU is the main consultant for the four components of the project.
Data were collected from government and private reports, field works and
satellite imagery and then were analyzed. The reports were prepared and a flow
of environmental data and information were accumulated for each component
mostly in digital and electronic format.
Status of Coral Reefs
in the
This study has been ordered by the General
Commission of Bahrain (GCPMREW) and realized by a team from AGU. This study aims
at providing the status of coral reefs in the
Atlas of Desert
Habitats for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries.
A preliminary study was conducted, in order to prepare an Atlas for
desert habitats at the level of GCC countries. This Atlas will provide valuable
information on natural resources in addition to biodiversity, climate and
population. The conceptual study covered the following four areas: inventory of
the existing data, type of media, timetable and estimated costs. A
comprehensive study will be conducted in order to elaborate the
proposed Atlas, based on RS data and GIS techniques (Ait Belaid et al.,
2002).
Building Internal
Databases for GCC Countries.
This activity was undertaken recently, in order to prepare and produce an internal database with base maps (provided by countries), as a first step, for GCC countries containing many layers of information: administrative boundaries, roads and cities. This database will include also the results of research projects. It will incorporate also the archive of satellite imagery. This will facilitate the task for students and faculty members to conduct their research and also for the purpose of project development and management (Ait Belaid et al., 2002).
b.
Data
and information availability (collectively, sectoral and thematic)
Concerning the project on the impact of climate change, data were collected
from government and private reports with field works and satellite imagery and
then were analyzed. The reports were prepared and a flow of environmental data
and information were accumulated for each component mostly in digital and
electronic format.
The research activities granted by several organizations and
carried out at AGU or outside by AGU faculty were compiled in technical
reports. Most of them are dealing with environmental issues (refer to the list
of granted projects in paragraph 5.e below).
More than 120 theses were completed under the sphere of
technological studies, out of which more 70% theses dealt with environmental
problems. These theses are available at the sphere of the technological studies
and can be used by our graduate students, faculty members and can also
consulted by the public.
c.
Public
Access.
More than 120 theses are available at the sphere of the
technological studies and can be consulted by our graduate students, faculty
members and they are also accessible to the public in general in hardcopy.
The results of the all other projects are produced in the form of
technical documents/ reports in hardcopy format and sometime in digital format.
All these reports are given to the lead agencies, which have the copyright. So,
In many cases the data used and the information derived are not accessible to
the general public.
d.
Information policy and
legislations.
Presently, there is
no formal information policy and written legislations within AGU departments
nor between GCC institutions and countries. All data and information related to
the projects conducted at AGU are transferred immediately to the lead agencies.
The results of the research may be published jointly by AGU staff members and
the team of the project from other regional and international institutions.
e.
Institutional capacity for
managing environmental data and information.
AGU has conducted a series of training workshops related to
environmental issues in collaboration with UNEP, UNESCO and ALECSO (Groundwater
Hydrology, scenarios development, assessment and reporting, state of
environment) as well as GIS/RS applications for environment:
-
Microcomputer Applications in Groundwater Hydrology and Pollution
(May/June, 2000).
-
-
The Regional GEO-3 Consultation Meeting for
-
Regional Workshop on Integrated Environmental Assessment and
Reporting (January, 2003).
-
Introduction to Geographical Information Systems (January, 2003;
Marsh, 2003; September, 2003).
-
Applications of Geographical Information Systems for Soil Survey
(December, 2003).
-
Innovatory Methodologies for Satellite Image Processing and
Analysis (September, 2002; October, 2003; October, 2004).
-
Land Use Change Detection and Analysis (September, 2004).
-
Regional Stakeholders Roundtable in Preparation for the World
-
Arab Region Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (September/October,
2003).
-
Expert/ Consultation Meeting on the Development of
Other activities include offering seminars, by AGU staff members
and/or invited distinguished scientists, organizing and sponsoring training
courses, workshops, symposia and conferences (e.g. Symposium on Desertification
and Land Reclamation in the GCC Region in 1993, International Conferences
GIS-1998, GIS-2002, GIS-2004) on issues of top priorities.
f.
Financing
of environmental data and information.
The financing of environmental data and information is supported
mainly by UNEP for GEO process, for the impact of climate change (UNFCCC) and
also for the study on environmental indicators. The other two projects (Coral
reefs in the
Throughout the intensive research activities of AGU, some of their
research projects were sponsored by grants or other supportive measures,
particularly during the period of 1990-2000. In the following, the supported
projects are listed:
-
National Action Plan to Combat Desertification (NAPCD) respectively
in the countries of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Sultanate of Oman;
supported by UNEP/ROWA/ESCWA (1992-93).
-
Water Resources and Pollution, Hazardous wastes, air pollution,
recycling of waste supported mainly by the
-
Rapid Assessment of Impacts of Ira-Kuwait Conflict on Terrestrial
Ecosystems in
6-Effectiveness and efficiency of current information
systems (include strengths and weaknesses).
The actual approach “information system” adopted by the sphere of
technological studies for data gathering, analyzing, structuring (database),
storing, publishing is effective to answer the proper needs of AGU partners,
students and staff, but it is inaccessible legally and useless by the general
public.
7-Constrains and barriers to manage and improve
availability and accessibility of environmental data and information.
Some of the constraints to manage and improve availability and
accessibility of environmental data and information are related mainly to the
structuring, storing and retrieval of data.
8-Assessment of general requirements:
This section deals with the assessment of general requirements to be fulfilled by environmental data and
information.
g.
Environmental priority
issues.
- Groundwater
Modeling and Management of Water Resources.
- Protected
and soil-less Agriculture Technology.
- Modern
Technologies for Monitoring Desertification (GIS/RS).
- Soil
Salinity, Water Logging and Soil Erosion.
- Urbanization
and Land Use Planning.
- Coastal
Zone Management and Development of Marine Resources.
- Integrated Environmental
Assessment.
h.
Priority environmental
information needs of various groups (stakeholders) to support decision-making.
- Basic Environmental Data to be Accessible to the wide range of Users.
- Regular Environmental Reporting and Outlook to be conducted by governments/countries.
- Set-up
and Adoption/Agreement of Environmental Indicators to follow-up
systematically the main environmental Issues.
i.
Technological
needs
In order to be easily accessible, data and information need to
fulfill the following requirements:
-
Structured and designed as regular databases with data dictionary
and catalogue of meta-data, describing both the nature and the contents of the
database.
-
Stored in the appropriate media in the appropriate format on an
appropriate server/computer, in order to facilitate the retrieval of data using
the meta-data catalogue.
-
Have the specific software available to display and manipulate
different types of data and information (e.g. satellite imagery, GIS
layer/coverage).
j.
Institutional
needs (including training and finance)
Institutional needs may be subdivided mainly in two groups:
training and finance:
-
Training is needed in the fields of data gathering, data analysis
and storage, database design.
-
Financing are also needed to conduct pilot studies related to
software manipulation and acquisition, data storage, database building. As
highlighted in paragraph 5-f, financing is a big concern; because the countries
of the region are considered to have a high income relatively.
9- Regional and international cooperation.
AGU has a well-established tradition of serving as a collaborating
center of excellence and know-how between university, governmental agencies and
international and regional organizations such as: UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO, UNIDO,
ESCWA, ISESCO, ALECSO, ACSAD, STEMARN.
AGU and the
AGU has conducted a series of training workshops related to
environmental issues in collaboration with UNEP, UNESCO and ALECSO (Groundwater
Hydrology, scenarios development, assessment and reporting, state of
environment) as well as GIS/RS applications for environment.
10- Opportunities for the future.
In terms of
perspective, there are some opportunities that may be targeted in the near
future:
-
-
Center for Environmental Information and Assessment at AGU.
-
Regional Web Portal for
-
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment initiated by United Nations.
-
Space Techniques for Disaster Management initiated by the United
Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (OOSA).
-
New Funded Projects on Environmental Issues.
11- Lessons learned and experiences.
The lessons learned
and the experiences that AGU has achieved in the area of environment throughout
its activities of training, research and public awareness can be summarized in
the following points:
-
Environmental assessment and reporting, database
building, retrospective and prospective analyses and scenarios.
- Inventory and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, vulnerability and adaptation to sea level rise, flow of data and information.
- Investigation of the status of coral reefs,
main causes of degradation, proposition of possible solutions for the
management of coral reefs.
- Inventory and classification of natural
resources in desert environment, conceptual model elaboration.
- Structuring and designing database using GIS
layers and Remote Sensing imagery.
- Designing a set of standard environmental
indicators to answer the needs of countries and institutions.
-
Organization
of a series of training workshops related to environmental issues as well as
GIS/RS applications for environment, in order to build the capacity of AGU to
deal with the management of environmental data.
- Elaboration of a series of Action Plan to Combat Desertification (NAPCD).
-
Water Resources, Hazardous wastes, air pollution and recycling of
waste.
- Rapid Assessment of Impacts of Conflict on Terrestrial Ecosystems.
12- Recommendations of
priorities for action. Please consider the following:
k. Policy.
- Access to
environmental data to be facilitated by the Departments, which are in charge of
different activities (Agriculture, environment).
- Joint
Publication and diffusion of the results of projects to be encouraged.
l. Institutional.
-
Set-up regulations on copyright and use of environmental data and
information.
-
Training workshops and seminars to be conducted for capacity
building (staff, institution).
m.
Technical.
-
Capacity building and awareness in data handling and data analysis.
-
Data gathering, sharing and dissemination to be encouraged between
AGU and other regional and international partners/institutions.
n.
Financial.
- Environmental data and information cost to be funded.
o.
Sustainability.
-
Data an information standards to be defined, agreed on and adopted.
-
Data archiving facilities to be provided.
13-References
AGU, 1996. Achievements of the
AGU, 2000. Global Environment
Outlook (GEO): environmental Reporting-West Asia Region, http://www.agu.edu.bh/english/news/geo.htm
AGU, 2002a. Status of Coral
Reefs in the
AGU, 2002b. Design of an Atlas
for Desert Habitats for the GCC Countries.
Ait Belaid, M., Al-Jenaid, S.S. and Al-Zubari, W. K., 2002. Development
of a New Program on Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing at the
Asma, A.A., Anwar, S.A.A. and Adel, F.A., 2004. Priority Environmental
Indicators in West Asia, Arab
FAO, (2001). FAOSTAT (Data as of July 2001, years
1961-1999). FAO.
GCPMREW/AGU, 2003. Impact of
Climate Change: Vulnerability Assessment. General Commision for the Protection
of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife in collaboration with the Arabian
Gulf University, (team Sabah S. Al-Jeneid and Mohammad S. Abido), Bahrain, 46
p.
GCPMREW/AGU, 2004. Impact of
Climate Change: Adaptation Measures. General commission for the Protection of
Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife in collaboration with the Arabian
Gulf University, (team Mohammad S. Abido and Sabah S. Al-Jeneid), Bahrain, 18
p.
GEO Year Book, 2003. Global
Environmental Outlook: GEO Year Book 2003, UNEP, http://www.unep.org/geo/yearbook/114.htm
GEO-2000, 2000a. Global
Environmental Outlook 2000 (GEO-2000), Chapter 3: Policy Responses-West Asia-
Environmental Information and Education, UNEP, http://www.rolac.unep.mx/geo2000/english/0210.htm
GEO-2000, 2000b. State of the
Environment in
MHME/AGU, 2001a.
MHME/AGU, 2001b. Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in
UNEP, 2002a. Global
Environmental Outlook (GEO 3), Past, Present and Future Perspectives.
UNEP, 2002b. Global
Environmental Outlook 3 Data Compendium. UNEP/DEWA/RS.02-5, Division of Early
Warning,
UNEP/ROWA, 1994. Regional Directory
for Tertiary Level Environmental Training Institutions in West –
Appendix 1: List of Acronyms
ACSAD:
AGEDI:
AGU:
BCSR:
ALECSO: Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization.
DEWA: Division of Early Warning.
ESCWA: Economic and Social Commission for
FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
FAOSTAT: Agricultural & Land Use Database established by FAO.
GCC: Gulf Cooperation Council.
GCPMREW: General Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and
Wildlife.
GEO: Global Environmental Outlook.
GHG: Greenhouse Gas.
GIS: Geographic Information Systems.
IPCC: Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change.
ISESCO: Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
MA: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
MHME: Ministry of Housing, Municipalities and Environment.
NAPCD: National Action Plan to Combat Desertification.
NGO: Non-Governmental Organization.
OOSA: Office of Outer Space Affairs.
ROWA: Regional Office for
RS: Remote Sensing.
SOE: State of
STEMARN: Science and Technology Management Arab Regional Network.
UAE:
UNDP: United Nations Development Programme.
UNEP: United Nations Environment Programme.
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
UNIDO: United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
WSSD: World