National Environmental Strategy.

This National Environmental Strategy is a multi-sectoral document aiming at achieving a sustainable environmental development thorough the formulation of appropriate, practical and comprehensive strategies based on the statements of the Constitution that under article 9 declares that the State shall take the necessary actions and arrangements to maintain the environment and preserve the wildlife. It is also considered a tool to ensure the national support for finalization of the procedures required and for the transformation of the strategy into a tangible reality and practical programs. The document is based on the following principles (i) improving the status quo of the environment; (ii) taking the precautionary measures to prevent environmental deterioration; (iii) imposing fines on the people and organisation causing the pollution resulting in environmental damages; and (iv) the principle of partnership. The Strategy covers the following sectors (1) Air; (2) Water; (3) Land uses and agriculture; (4) Marine and coastal environment; (5) Environment health; (6) Oil, industry and energy; (7) Environmental awareness and tourism; and (8) Biological diversity. In some cases, the document also adopts a cross-sectoral approach, i.e. integrating tourism and environment, transportation and environment, wastes and municipal waste management resulting from the activities of the oil, industry and energy sectors as being the greatest source generating gaseous, solid and liquid waste.
To make agriculture and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the Strategy proposes (i) adoption of policies involving non conventional agriculture in search for better alternatives in order to reduce the prohibitive economic, social and environmental cost of the agricultural sector; (ii) use of treated sewage to replace the underground water used now for the irrigation taking into account (a) precautionary measures and constant monitoring for the purposes of controlling the quality of the treated sanitary drainage water utilization and (b) training the farmers on how to use treated water for irrigation of any agricultural crops and on the health and environmental concerns that may arise in the event of defective treatment and utilization systems; (iii) diversification of the agricultural activities in order to protect water, as well as consider the possibility of discontinuation of certain agricultural activities, which consume large quantities of water; (iv) use of modern agricultural technologies, such as green houses to rationalize water consumption and prevailing traditional determinant factors of agriculture; (v) integrated management of agricultural pests and chemicals; (vi) increasing of the green surfaces and agricultural cover; (vii) adoption of the integrated management policies for the coastal areas to protect this environment, its natural resources and ecological systems against pollution and degradation as a result of the human pressures and at the same time guarantee the rights of all users of the coastal and marine environment and protect its sustainability; (viii) undertaking both environmental and public health studies on the impacts of pollutants in the food chain of the fishery resources health; (ix) expansion of the coastal water surveillance network; and (x) encouraging the private sector to modify its production systems and policies for a better environmental management and sustenance of its operations in the long run (certificates of appreciation and recognition, the principle imposing fines on the polluter, environmental management tools).
To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the document envisages to increasing the number of local young labor involved in the agricultural sector.
To increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, main actions will be directed to (i) reduce the emissions resulting from generation and transmission of electricity as well as emissions from the industrial sector and vehicular exhaust; (ii) endorsement of an environmental strategy that takes into account the appropriate preventive precautions and procedures in anticipation of the global climate change and anticipated sea rise level and the consequences on the coastal environment, enterprises and infrastructures; and (iii) periodic surveillance of the monitoring wells around the wastes dumps to verify and ensure absence of pollution of underground water as well as monitoring of healthcare wastes incinerators, industrial wastes disposal sites.
As for the Governance, it is important to strengthen the role of the environmental control to enable it to ensure the reinforcement of the laws and orders related to the conservation of the environment, in particular the General Directorate for the Protection of the Environment and Wildlife must have the following (i) powers to coordinate with the government authorities and official agencies; (ii) provide advice where the environmental issues are concerned in the relevant proposed legislation; (iii) required flexibility and financial means to conduct environmental studies and research in cooperation with other research centers and institutes; and (iv) technical and technological capability to coordinate with other government organizations and commissions in the Kingdom on the environmental issues. While the various other government bodies and organizations concerned with the environment must maintain administrative technical liaison points for effective coordination with the aforementioned Directorate.