It starts with water and ends with a Debka dance: Friends of the Earth Middle East, a trilateral Israel-Palestine-Jordan non-profit organization has launched an unbelievably hopeful project based on water in the West Bank village of Auja, about 10 minutes from the city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley.

Probably not since the Roman times when an aqueduct ran through the village, has something this exciting came to Auja (said oo-jah), a rundown and dusty Palestinian village of about 5,000 people of local Arab tribes and Bedouin stock. Today, the locals are getting ready for the guest of honor: American Consul General to Palestine, Daniel Rubinstein, is set to arrive in the next hour. He’s an American Jew, who speaks fluent Arabic.

“Oh good, the lions have arrived,” says Gidon Bromberg excitedly, as we wheel into the dusty parking lot in his rental car, staff scurrying around us, including the local mayor, putting the finishing touches on the new building that houses the Auja EcoCenter. Everything is spic and span, polished, swept and dusted. A tent is ready to host Rubinstein and his entourage.

As we get out of the car and slide a glass of water over the dust in our throats we head outside for a tour, with Gidon the Israeli director of the organization caressing the brightly painted airbrushed lions. “They are stuffed with garbage,” he points out proudly, as we walk around the center’s yard coming to life with local herbs such as za’atar, mint, thyme and sheba.

Luckily it’s still early and the furnace of heat that will hit you in the face hasn’t hit us in the face. It’s so hot in the Jordan Valley in the summer, that you can literally fry an egg on the pavement. Since the Jordan River ran dry, fresh water is scarce, making every drop count. Auja is lucky to have a spring of its own, but now the villagers feel cursed and lucky to see water in it for a few months of the year.

We embark on our tour starting with the two lions, flanking the parking lot of the center. Gidon’s enthusiasm is evident. The yard is big and plentiful, about an acre in size, and workers tend to a bountiful vegetable garden already offering its first fruits –– kohlrabi, cabbage, lettuce.

There is a lot to take in, but the epicenter of the magic in Auja is the water treatment stations, open plastic water tanks that funnel water through a series of levels, sifting it with stones and sand. The water comes from the guest center, and when treated will return to the kitchen as fresh produce.

Various stops around the garden teach people about the importance of saving water, recycling and composting. It is water advocacy in action if I have ever seen it.

The visionaries have also built a compost toilet, a squat variety which looks like an outhouse from the outside, although the locals aren’t yet keen on using it. Probably a modesty issue.

Who’s water right?

Auja used to have a natural spring running through it. Every winter a magical waterfall appears nearby, if only briefly, as rainwater runoff collects in the mountains and wadis, replenishing the shallow well that flows to the town. Not since anyone can remember has the spring stopped running for so many months –– more than half a year. It’s bone dry today.

Some blame the Israelis and their water company Mekorot for pumping deep below Auja’s shallow well, below the ancient spring of Auja – a half kilometer down from the spring. The Israelis – given permission to do so as part of the Oslo Accords, deny the connection, says Gidon, and point to a 7-year drought.

“As to the dry Auja Spring it is not the wells being under each other but the ground water,” Gidon points out. “There are two layers – a shallow layer that holds the water for the spring and a deeper layer of groundwater. The Israeli water authorities claim that their pumping from the deeper groundwater has no impact on the groundwater above it. Palestinian researchers claim the opposite – that Israeli drilling impacts both layers of groundwater.”

Auja’s water well isn’t made from Tupperware.

Arguing over water, if you’ve ever talked to Israelis and Palestinians, is useless. You can speak with all the experts you like, and I have –– with both sides: water engineers, consultants, heads of towns and municipalities, members of the government, water authorities, university professors, princes. You name it. The most powerful group for now, the Israelis, win the lion’s share. The Israelis have enough for agriculture, and three showers a day in Tel Aviv. The people of Auja need to keep extra in tanks in case their taps stop working. Forget about showers.

Using different records, accords and agreements signed in different years, and a deep emotional connection to the land, with scars that run deep, you won’t find the truth about who owns the water in the Holy Land. Keep trying. But the truth is like water and you won’t catch it: Water moves and flows. Dependent on prayers, rainfall, and how much is used in agriculture, water isn’t predictable like the sunrise: God only knows the boundaries of where a water well begins and ends.

Probably meant to bring people together and not apart, if I was God, I’d be smiling over what’s happening in Auja: instead of putting their hands to the sky in vain, the people have Auja have taken a bold step. Working with Friends of the Earth Middle East, which also means working with an Israeli partner and effectively the “enemy”, the people of Auja have taken a leap of faith in their future, and built the Auja EcoCenter, a living pilot site to show other Arab towns like it, in the West Bank, Jordan and beyond, on how to be a water educational center in theory and practice.

Today was a special day. Rubenstein from the American Government would be rolling in soon with his security personnel and tinted black windowed truck. Waiting for him, and his address, the people of Auja, including the mayor, and local tribal leaders, and police were passing small black cups of coffee, drinking from Jericho bottled water, waiting in the tent for the official inauguration. Rubenstein would also plant a tree, a eucalyptus, along with elders from the village.

The excitement in the air was more than tangible. The people of Auja were smiling and the laborers pouring cement in a next-door schoolyard were singing.

It only starts with water: Gidon’s organization had convinced the American aid arm USAID to help fund the dream, and along with American dollars came a sleek, new road which winds through Auja right to its heart at the water center and guest lodge.

“Most importantly what we convinced USAID to do was to invest in replacing the old and leaking water network of Auja so that once installed it will double the amount of water that is supplied into people’s homes. The road was just an added benefit,” says Gidon.

The center has been opened and operating since last year, and now much of the village’s dream of creating peace through water has changed the outlook and prospects for an entire community, a dream which can be replicated throughout the entire Levant region.

In the coming years, the people of Auja hope to welcome schoolchildren and groups from the region, showing them how to build water treatment plants in their own backyards –- with the results irrigated to vegetable gardens. Such practices could greatly alleviate the extreme water shortage the region is facing.

Instead of wasteful measures like creating more desalination plants, Gidon argues that smarter ways of using water is the key to ensuring enough goes around for everyone. His partners feel the same. The Friends of the Earth include three directors –– Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian and they argue they are the only peace group of its kind in the region that works together without a western interlocutor.

In their vision, the Auja EcoCenter was built with accommodations that can house about 30 people, with meals, creating a self-sustaining model for the center, and community.

You want to see Middle East peace in action? go to visit Auja.

Interviewing Gidon’s Palestinian partner Nader Al-Khateeb, he tells Green Prophet that he welcomes guests, and will happily show groups authentic ways to experience sustainable eco-tourism in Palestine.

Being mindful of the local and modest culture is important for guests to consider: no beer, no rowdiness, no sunbathing or changing clothes in front of an open window. If you keep a few basic rules in mind, you will be embraced by the people of Auja who are curious and excited to see visitors from other countries:

“We’d be happy to arrange traditional cooking lessons with the women in Auja, or teach traditional Debka dancing,” says Al-Khateeb referring to the Levantine dance done by Bedouins and local Arabs on the roofs of newly built stone houses, as they once did, arms locked, with feet stomping down the straw into the freshly laid roof.

The dance has evolved to include music, and special movements.

Anyone who visits Auja will plainly see, and experience, a little bit of Arab hospitality and culture. The icing on the cake is the message you’ll bring home on how they can make peace with a little water, in an otherwise conflict-ridden parched Middle East. Did I mention the dust?

::Auja EcoCenter website
::Friends of the Earth Middle East (EcoPeace) website

Karin Kloosterman is the founder and editor of Green Prophet.

Because of the Japan nuclear crisis, set in motion by a 9.0 Richter Scale earthquake last week, world trade markets have been reeling, setting off unstable prices in foreign currencies, insurance markets, and nuclear technologies. The quake which has either killed or left unaccounted for some 15,000 people, could put millions more in peril should the nuclear situation deteriorate.

As I’ve said before – there is no insurance against nuclear reactors: you can buy insurance for your homes, you can buy it for your cars (there are tons of places online nowadays for cheap car insurance quotes), but there is no insurance to protect us against a nuclear disaster.

The world witnessed what happened at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in the 80s, and those of us who are older, saw the US disaster at Three Mile Island (links to Wikipedia). I implore all Mideast Youth bloggers and readers to push for reforms that stops the proliferation of nuclear energy development, for weapons and for power. As a child of the 70s, I grew up with fears that the Russian President Mikhail Gorbochev would nuke America and Canada (during the Cold War). And some say the world came “that close” to a full on nuclear war back then.

Countries like Turkey, Israel, Iran, Egypt and Jordan are far too unstable, politically and geologically, for nuclear energy of any kind. As we see news of the tragedy in Japan unfold, countries like Australia are offering uranium to the United Arab Emirates. The thought that such an unstable Middle East is pursuing nuclear energy with enthusiasm and no shame gives me nightmares.

Do we want to build a world that answers all our materialistic greed in the here and now?

Or one that our grandchildren will prosper in?

As the Arab world moves into the realm of a potential renaissance, please rethink the issue of nuclear, and can all existing programs that are on the table. If Japan – one of the world’s leaders in earthquake technologies, and like the Swiss – very organized – can’t keep its nuclear facilities in check, I only hazard to guess how idiotic it would be to build a nuclear plant in the midst of uprisings and fault lines. For more reading, Rola, over on Green Prophet gives a very good argument why the Middle East can’t risk investing in nuclear.

The rest? Making it work and keeping the romance alive. This can be tough sometimes when your love interest has strong environmental ideals, but those who are in it for the long haul will find ways to adapt their courting strategies to their beloved’s green ideologies.

So how do you woo an environmentalist? Here are 5 romantic gift ideas that are also good to the planet:

1) Potted flowers (or plants) over bouquets. Cut flowers are pretty, but they only last a few days and are kind of an eco-waste. Why not give your sweetheart a potted flower, plant, or set of herbs that will have him/her thinking about you for longer than just a few days? In the Middle East, cyclamens are now in season and come in beautiful colors. If flowers are not your love interest’s thing, you can give them a potted mint plant so that they think of you every time they put fresh mint in their tea.

2) Anything handmade. Handmade cards, handmade jam, handmade frames… you name – you will get much more credit for something that is handmade (since it is both sweet and requires fewer carbon emissions). Get in touch with your creative side.

3) Anything handmade… made by a local artisan. If you’ve tried and tried and still can’t make anything handmade yourself, it’s okay to rely on a local artisan’s handcrafting skills. The internet has made locating these handcrafters easier than ever, and one good place to start is the popular website, Etsy.

4) Organic chocolate. If Valentine’s Day teaches us anything, it is that chocolate has become one of the main symbols of love. Containing phenylethylamine (aka the “love chemical”), the consumption of chocolate is said to be linked to the release of certain love hormones. You can’t really go wrong with chocolate. But to score extra green points, make sure that it is organic, fair trade, and as local as possible.

5) Time. Time is one of our most finite resources, and anyone who is concerned with conserving limited natural resources should appreciate the gift of time. Make time to have special experiences together, or just hang out and strengthen your bond. Sometimes the best gifts are free.

This post is by Karen Chernick from Green Prophet

And those of you that are already involved with someone may be planning (hopefully not too frantically) for your Valentine’s Day eve. It’s hard to plan a Valentine’s Day evening or date that isn’t too cheesy since the holiday of love tends to take romance over the top. Chocolates are a cliche (and, frankly, not healthy or locally produced in most cases), flowers are overdone (and have a negative effect on the environment, unless you’re giving your sweetheart a potted flower plant), and red and pink streamers are not for everyone.

Not to be the Grinch that stole Valentine’s Day, but there are other options out there – especially if you take a unique Middle Eastern approach to your date.

Explore the great and romantic outdoors. The Middle East may not be home the stereotypical romantic locales of Paris or Rome, but it has beautiful spots to visit nonetheless. Lebanon and Israel have Mediterranean coastlines, Egypt is blessed with the Nile River, and Jordan and Syria have an abundance of national parks. An outdoor picnic in any such outdoor settings would surely set your date apart from the (overdone) norm.

If your date is not a fan of eating outdoors, though, there are other things you can do outside. You can go for a romantic walk or bike ride (both Beirut and Tel Aviv currently have sea-side bike paths), or spend an evening at an eco-tourist destination. Think an eco-tourist guesthouse is the opposite of romantic? Think again – candle-lit rooms, delicious fresh food and stunning locations often characterize these spots.

Enjoy a meal that is considerate towards both your date and the environment. One thing that Valentine’s Day has gotten right (despite the fact that it is usually done over-the-top) is a romantic, delicious meal. Making a romantic meal doesn’t mean that your fillets have to be heart-shaped, or that your cake has to be dyed red or pink, though. Delicious, considerate food that requires time and thought to prepare is at least equally (if not much more) romantic.

Consider preparing an eco-considerate local and organic meal, sourced from the best that the Middle East has to offer. Try cooking something more daring than your usual fare, whether it be homemade Baba Ghanoush or a hearty Jerusalem artichoke soup. (Word to the wise: check to see if your date has any eco-dietary restrictions or allergies first.)

(This post was written by Green Prophet’s Karen Chernick to help spread the green message throughout the Middle East)

Before there were Thai workers on Israeli farms, the Palestinians did the back breaking labor for a fraction of the cost. The Intifada about 10 years ago tightened security and the Palestinians no longer came to work on the farms. Filling the void, Thai and other migrant workers from Asia were happy to fill it in.

But despite a promise to let more Thai workers into Israel to pick food quickly ripening on trees and in the fields, the government hasn’t really loosened its grip on a lower quota. This has been tough on the local farmers who can no longer produce cheap produce for the masses. To counteract, Israeli farmers are going on strike this week, threatening to withhold the country’s local supply of eggs, poultry, fruit and vegetables.

It will hurt the farms, the locals, and the migrant workers: Migrant workers in Israel make a lot of money compared to where they live. Farmhands in Thailand might make $50 a month, but in Israel $750 to $1,000. But they wire it all back home, bypassing the Israeli economy. Migrant workers who can barely read can’t take out loans through the Internet like an online cash advance, and they don’t have the luxury of going in “minus” in their bank (like half of all Israelis).

Thai workers in Israel might need to mortgage their land back home to work in Israel. But if they work hard and fast enough, they can earn enough money to support a family and even a village.

According to recent reports, “a year and a half ago the Israeli government agreed that they would increase the quota of foreign farm hands from 22,000 to 26,000 – a promise that has yet to be kept.”

So – Israeli growers have started striking. They say they will cut off the country’s supply of vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, fresh fish and poultry to markets and supermarkets all over the country if something isn’t done.

They need hands that are ready and willing to pick the fruit from the trees.

This is my 2 cents: I think Israel should rethink growing water-thirsty crops and focus its efforts of building a more sustainable agriculture practice like farms that are a pleasure to work on, and which may not need thousands of cheap labourers to reap its crop. Projects that include sustainable and steady employment to the Palestinians in the nearby West Bank could be best for regional development and peace. Just an idea.

::ISRAELITY
Image via David Shankbone

Fashion and the natural world don’t always go hand in hand (unless you’re lucky enough to come across some whimsical banana-shaped pumps by designers such as Kobi Levi). Usually haute couture is the anti-natural, with silhouettes that combat the shapes that we were born with and materials (such as fur) that require the destruction of something natural. Yet in an attempt to come up with a national garment for Israelis, fashion designers decided to center their inspiration on the natural. Namely, on Israel’s only fresh water lake, the Sea of Galilee which is now severely depleted.

Displayed in a garment design contest/fashion show in Tiberias (a city that is located on the shores of the Sea of Galilee) during the last few days of Sukkot, a recent Jewish holiday, the designers demonstrated that the natural is a powerful source of inspiration. The designers were also calling attention to the fact that the lake is in serious trouble in need of a serious makeover.

The Sea of Galilee is Israel’s largest fresh water reservoir and is a major source for Israeli water consumption. The water levels have steadily declined over recent years, due to years of drought, and now the levels are so low that there is danger that the lake may become salt water.

Liraz Rubin, one of the fashion designers whose work was displayed in the show, said that “my design is inspired by the lake, where the fish want to live but the water is getting scarce and the lake is sad. You can see in the design itself that the fishermen can hardly find any fish. It’s a cry to save the Sea of Galilee and its fish.”

For some of the judges, though, the focus was more on fashion and less on conservation. Yuval Kaspin, an Israeli celebrity designer and one of the judges, said that “in some of the designs the connection between the Sea and the garment was definitely discernible. The designs which caught our attention the most were those that indeed reminded us of the Sea, but did not ‘over-chew’ the concept for us.”

And if you’re sold on the concept of design and fashion inspired by nature, try on some jewelry to match – like a Hamsa, designed to ward off the evil eye.

We’d also like to see some fashion shows in other parts of the Middle East ‘designed’ to draw attention to the environment. Maybe from the eco-chicks from Naqa’a in Saudi Arabia?

:NTDTV

Read more about green fashion on the eco-blog Green Prophet
“New Dress A Day” Blog Takes Consumerism Out of the Fresh Fashion Equation
Are Kobi Levi’s Tongue Shoes Fit for Dancing?
EcoGir Flaunts Its Recycled Polyester Suits During New York Fashion Week

(This post has been written by Karen Chernick, from Green Prophet)

We may have our fair share of not-so-eco maniacs in the Middle East, but we also have a powerful body of concerned citizens who realize that the success with which we develop sustainable options in every aspect of life – agriculture, building, energy, fashion, and industry – will define our quality of said life for decades to come.

To veer away from reckless projects like the monster Burj, or the phony “Iceland” that has just opened up in the UAE, the Global Green Awards are accepting applications, for the fifth year, from creative, original, and positive people who have a sustainable vision. Greenwashers need not apply.

Although the annual Green Awards are well known, this will be the first year that the competition is open to projects throughout the globe in every category. Applications are currently being accepted until 22 October, 2010.

Some of the new categories include:

• Best Green Educational Project for demonstrated ability to influence behavior in learning environments towards a long term sustainable agenda.
• Best Green New Product Innovation to award organizations that have effectively incorporated sustainability in their bottom line through the creation of ‘green’ products.
• Best Green Use of Mobile Apps and Technologies celebrating those who have used the mobile platform to promote green and ethical purposes, now an even greater part of our lives.

“Like previous years, the judging panel…boasts of prominent names associated with environment and marketing such as Johan Eliasch, Special Representative of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Chairman, HEAD; Freya Williams, MD/Planner, Ogilvy Earth; Nick Nuttall, Media Head, UNEP and Cheryl Hicks, Special Adviser on Sustainability for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD),” according to the organizers.

Steering the green ship

The competition will be judged by a “steering group” that is comprised of representatives from top environmental, communications, and marketing organizations. Their combined expertise will ensure that only projects that have achieved high standards in every facet of design and marketing receive recognition.

Steering group member Satinder Bindra, UNEP Director of Communications commented: “Making your voice heard and having an impact in the increasingly crowded and sometimes fatigue-laden world of environmental marketing requires persistence, creativity and the ability to take risks. Without it, I fear messages key to our very survival will not be noticed.”

The awards will be held 2nd December, 2010 at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, and will be co-hosted by Jo Wood and – a well-known “green” entrepreneur, and designer Wayne Hemingway.

So if you or someone you know has an entry that fits the above criteria, that is at once brilliant and socially responsible, and if you have a hefty green backbone, visit: www.greenawards.co.uk for more information.

More Good Green News from the Middle East:
The “Saudi Arabia” Of Renewable Energy</a
New Eilat-Eilot Clean Tech Center May Boost Solar And Wind Energy Projects
Under Highway Piezoelectric “Generators” Could Provide Power to Propel Electric Cars

This post was written by Tafline Laylin and is cross-posted at www.greenprophet.com

Don’t dump to the sea! The Middle East can learn from America’s mistakes. This sign to protect oysters and fish, Apalachicola, Florida.

The good news is there is a World Ocean Day. Today. Of course, most eco activists know that every day is important for the Seven Seas, or more accurately our one great salty body of water, but UNESCO liked the idea and last year declared June 8, the day. Proposed on 8 June 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then as World Ocean Day.

World Water Day is an opportunity every year to honor the world’s ocean, to get the kids off their Wii’s and computers and celebrate what the oceans give us. It’s also a time to teach kids and even adults how to give back. Today, Green Prophet’s friend Andreas Weil (who swims with whales!), the founder of the ocean research and education center EcoOcean, gives us his 6 tips on how to do your part.

1. Clean Up Plastics
Materials made from plastic often end up in open spaces or in the ocean due to their light weight (carried by the wind and water). Plastic takes years until it naturally disintegrates or wears down. This type of waste can be deadly to sea turtles, cetaceans (such as dolphins) and various sea birds, killing them by suffocation. David de Rothschild and his crew on Plastiki are currently investigation the plastic island; but you can take action to stop the problem.

What you can do: Instead of using plastic bottled mineral water, use a filtering system like a Brita, or a more elaborate system that connects to your tap. For water storage, use glass bottles rather than plastic bottles. They can be re-used without the aftertaste caused when repeatedly using plastic bottles, and this also creates less waste, suggests Andreas.

Using a fabric bag or a multi-use box to wrap your school sandwich is preferable to using a plastic bag. Pack your grocery shopping in fabric bags or shopping baskets intended for re-use and not single-use plastic bags.

Use multi-use plastic utensils for picnics instead of single-use plastic utensils. You can also use biodegradable ones.

2. How to Stop Over-fishing Using Your Mouth
We now know that the food products from the sea, such as seafood and fish (and bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean), are under heavy pressure from over-fishing and pollution. Many species of fish and seafood are under threat of disappearing due to over-fishing.

What you can do:
Eat sustainable seafood where possible and/or try to cut down on fish and seafood. Try to avoid seafood and fish like lobster and tuna – these species are threatened by heavy declines worldwide.

A good way of getting healthy protein is through eating seitan, wheat gluten developed by the Japanese. There are many other healthy vegetarian options rich in protein.

3. Slowing Down Greenhouse Gases and Ocean Acidification
This is a biggie – The rising carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations on earth is a great threat to the oceans and ocean life. Since the oceans are in equilibrium with the atmosphere, excessive CO2 emissions will lead to decreased pH (more acidity) in the ocean, which will have a big impact on marine life (acid dissolves their outer shells).

For example, the process of skeleton formation in corals and other calcifying animals and plants is very sensitive to pH and these organisms will be severely damaged as seawater pH decreases. Global warming, which is also a result of increasing CO2 levels, has already been implicated in causing worldwide coral bleaching and death.

What you can do:
Reduce you carbon footprint. Use public transport where possible (see how these parents have organized a walking bus) and use your bicycle for shorter trips.

Try to avoid using a car or airplane.

Take the train (and enjoy the view).

4. Throw Less Chemicals Into the Sea
Many household cleaning products (the ones that are lethal to humans – look at the labels!), hygienic products and chemicals end up in the ocean. They are not cleaned out of the water properly at water treatment plants, and so many chemicals and common medicines have been found in the fish we eat.

What you can do:
Buy and use biodegradable products, including detergents, that naturally dissolve in nature. They are healthier for your family’s skin any way. Never flush unused paints or other chemicals down the drain or toilet. Don’t throw paints, solvents or other chemicals into your storm sewers. Guess where these chemicals go?

5. Stop Driving on the Beach
Yes it might be romantic, adventurous and fun, but driving on the beach, says Andreas, harms small animals like turtles, and plants.

What you can do:
Park at designated parking lots and enjoy a healthy stroll down to the beach, using your feet.

6. Get More Involved
It doesn’t matter where you live, whether it’s on the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East, in Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea, or in the middle of Kansas. We are all sustained by the world’s oceans.

Become a member of an environmental organization, Andreas suggests. Find other people or local groups that are working for a good cause (like protecting a beach from a housing development) and ask how you can support them. Get you children, parents and friends involved too.

::EcoOcean website (in English, Arabic and Hebrew)

Above image: Karin Kloosterman, for Green Prophet, 2010.

The environment movement is no stranger to royalty: Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales has made his commitment to supporting the green movement, and over in Jordan, Prince Hassan has told Green Prophet that he’s committed to water protection and environmental education for his people. But green royalty from wealthy oil nations? From a ruling royal family in the United Arab Emirates, Green Prophet has befriended Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al-Nuaimi, better known as the “Green Sheikh.“

Sheikh Abdul Aziz, 44, is the nephew of Highness Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid al-Nuaimi (Arabic: شيخ حميد بن راشد النعيمي‎) – the Ruler of Ajmān and member of supreme council of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates UAE federation.

An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic Muslim Monarch-styled emir. Ajmān, where the Green Sheikh lives, covers an area of just 260 km2 and is located along the Arabian Gulf. About 95% of the people in Ajman (population of 360,000) live in the city of Ajman. Historically the Emirate was was known for its fishing and trade industries; more recently as guardian of some of the UAE’s oil reserves, and for property development.

Gaining a reputation for his zealous interest in environmental issues, which started as a child, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, today is CEO of the of Al Ihsan Charity Centre, which supplies food and essentials to the needy. He has a life mission which is guided by Islam: “to achieve all manners of excellent deeds for the satisfaction of Allah (God).”

In that mission is protecting the environment.

Educated in chemical and petroleum engineering, with an MA in environmental management, and a PhD in clean production and industrial ecosystems, Green Prophet interviews this newcomer to the green scene, with high hopes that the Green Sheikh will radically reform education and respect for the environment in the Middle East.

He’s won awards for his research, and the Mayor of Miami has given the Green Sheikh a key to the city. He currently advises the public, private and academic sectors on environmental issues.

Here’s our interview:

How has your passion for the environment influenced any policies in the Middle East?

I’ve activated and coordinated the formation of environmentally and socially responsible non-governmental organizations; I have created partnerships between public, private and local communities; have advised and raised awareness among decision makers, have participated in steering committees for strategic sustainability in major sectors, and have promoted these issues in the media in the regions of the United Arab Emirates, the GCC (Arabian Gulf Region), and in some other Arab countries, like Jordan.

Whatever inspired you to become a “Green Sheikh”?

It started in my childhood, when my father would train falcons to take with him on hunting trips. Subconsciously I had learned the balance of ecosystems without knowing. Also through my education in high school (science), and when I continued my career as a chemical and petroleum engineer, and worked in LNG Plant. This impacted me heavily.

I was the chairman of Environment Friends Society in the UAE for few years and was leading the Union for Youth and Environment in the region: I’ve been to the Antarctic as a polar explorer, have been awarded volunteering and competitions, and I love the colour green: the way to paradise!

Is there any Islamic philosophy guiding your way; or are you self-made?

Yes, I am following the core values of an Islamic philosophy based on appreciation and respect. The environment lies at the core of the Islamic faith, and the underlying principal that forms the foundation of the Prophet Muhammad’s holistic environmental policy is the belief in the interdependency between all natural elements, and the premise that if humans abuse or exhaust one element, the natural world as a whole will suffer direct consequences.

The three pillars of the Prophet’s environmental philosophy are based on the Quranic teachings and the concepts of tawhid (unity), khalifa (stewardship) and amana (trust).

In line with the concept of tawhid, the Prophet acknowledges that God’s knowledge and power covers everything which is why abusing any of his creations (a living being or a natural resource) is considered a sin.

The Quran explains that humankind holds a privileged position among God’s creations on Earth: he or she is chosen as khalifa, “vice-regent” and is entrusted with an amana - the responsibility of caring for God’s earthly creations.

The importance of sustaining the environment was highlighted by Prophet Muhammad:

“When doomsday comes, if someone has a palm shoot in his hand, he or she should plant it,” which suggests that even when all hope is lost for humankind, one should sustain nature’s growth.

How has your family and friends reacted to your green passion?

My family and friends continue inspiring and encouraging my passion, momentum and vision for a noble cause, even though there are many obligations and priorities.

What do you think are the biggest environmental problems in the Middle East, and what can Arab Nations do to change them?

The major challenges:

Water demand in the region is on the rise, as we live in the world’s most dry area, water is represents a challenge to the development and sustainability of the region’s economy.

What can be done:

• Reinforcement of environmental regulations
• Environmental awareness among decision makers
• Databases and required information for environmental planning and policies
• Public, private partnership is needed to address water challenges
• Investment needed for the infrastructure and technologies of water and wastewater
• Adaption of integrated water resources management
• Put in place national polices for short and long term goals
• Water demand management programs based on considering water as public goods without depriving the disadvantaged people
• More efficient wastewater treatment technologies and reducing the cost of desalination processes.

Who do you think has more power to change the green problems in the Arab world: the people, the religion, or governments/ruling family?

If in the Arabian Gulf countries (GCC) it would be the royal families with government support, using religion values and the support of people. If in other than Arabian Gulf Countries, it would be the government, represented by the president.

If you had one wish, what would it be?

Holistic living which describes one as being connected to the daily circle of life; balancing the spiritual, the intellectual, the physical, the emotional, the aesthetic, the environmental and my own inner peace to help spread peace throughout the world and in the process achieve wisdom.

Do you have any criticisms of the environment movement in the West (i.e. Europe and the US)? What are they?

Normally I never criticize anyone involved in noble causes and try to help people with their well being and try to sustain life for all God’s creation.

My values are based on those short letters:

3C’s and 3L’s:

No complaints…No comparison…No criticisms

Learn more…Love more…Lend more

What can the West learn from the Middle East?

• Learning more about the true values of Islam
• From Muslim women’s rights and her duties
• History and heritage
• Cultural understanding
• Respect
• Family relationships and tradition
• Social responsibility
• Arabic Hospitality
• Arabic art and music
• Our food and spices
• Arabic medicine
• Indigenous Arabs (Beduin from Al Badiyah or the deserts) have a lot of wisdom to share

Please let us know about a few of your favourite environment heroes, projects or organization anywhere in the world?

Heroes:

The Late Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan (Founder and president of the UAE)

Robert Swan

Frederic Hauge

David de Rothschild

Al Gore

Favourite Organizations:

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)

WANA Forum

Green Peace

Earth Scan

Friends of the Environment

Favorite Green Projects:

Masdar City (World hub of renewable energy)

E-base in Antarctica

Industrial Symbiosis in Denmark

If you could meet one person, alive or dead, who would it be and what you ask them?

I’d like to meet Abraham the Father of Prophets and ask him: How can we learn in our modern day the lessons from the sacrifice of your son?

What are you currently working on now?

A new charity hospital with capacity of 50 beds specialized for less fortunate families in the UAE, and a new school for talented and less fortunate children, on a training centre for empowering young leaders and endowment projects.

Thank you!

Read more about Islam and the environment:
Muslim World Takes Steps for Making the Hajj Green
Sakina Design Uses Islamic Design for Contemporary Eco-Look
A Halal’s Day Work Gardening

Karin Kloosterman is the founder and editor of the Middle East environment news blog, Green Prophet. Sign up for the weekly newsletter here.

They sealed a $15 million round of financing this year; now Abu Dhabi’s solar developer Enviromena Power Systems (“Enviromena”) won the “Sustainable Development of the Environment Award” at the Takreem Arab Achievement Awards held in Beirut last month.

Hosted by Al Jazeera’s star Laila Al-Shaikhli, in Beirut, the awards were to honor achievements in the Arab world. Presented at a gala dinner of over 500, the winners met with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman the following day, and included Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan (who we met 2 months ago) on the jury committee as well as former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Butros-Ghali.

Enviromena’s CEO Sami Khoreibi was happy to say in a press announcement: “As the only UAE company to be selected for an award, we are particularly pleased to represent both Abu Dhabi and the UAE and wish to thank our investors, management team and the Abu Dhabi Government for their progressive Green initiatives which have helped create the marketplace we operate in.”

Ricardo Karam, founder of the awards explained the concept behind the awards ceremony as a means to dispel negative myths about the Arab world: “The awards are an important tool in dispelling Arabic stereotypes and instilling a sense of pride in the achievements of the Arabic culture, our people and the companies that operate within it. Enviromena is an extremely deserving recipient and through their projects plays an active role in the wide scale implementation of sustainable development across the Gulf.”

Other winners included Nahida Nakad for the “Arab Woman of the Year” award.

For Enviromena, the award is icing on the cake. In the last year, it won a number of Middle East based awards including “Power Plant Operator of the Year” and “Energy Efficiency Awards” at the Middle East Power and Water Awards. The company, it reports, also completed the largest grid connected solar power plant in the Middle East, the Masdar 10MW Solar Plant in June last year.

::Enviromena website
(This story first appeared on the Middle East environment news website Green Prophet). Follow Green Prophet on Twitter @greenprophet or follow me: @kloostermania.