ARIJ existing research projects:

1- Sustainable Resource Management Program

         1-1 Urbanization and its impacts on natural resources (phase two):
Through funding from the International Development Research Center in Canada, this project aimed at assessing the effects of urbanization (i.e. Palestinian and Israeli) on Palestinian communities and natural resources. Through analysis of satellite images (time series LANDSAT TM for the years 1989, 1990, 1996, 1997 and 2000) and fieldwork, the project identified the patterns of urbanization in the West Bank and changes of land use as well as estimating the social and economic effects of these changes. The overall analysis was carried out on a number of selected 73 targeted cities, towns, villages and refugee camps in the West Bank.
In order to give an overview of the urban dynamics, the recent master plans and Village boundary delineation which was used during the British Mandate was used for the spatial analysis. Using GIS and remote sensing, the area and direction of urbanization trends were investigated in the West Bank Governorates. The direction of the urbanization trend is determined by observing the spatial formation of the urban area to identify locations that experienced development in land use. In this context, distinction between the Palestinian and Israeli land use developments were emphasized to assess their impact on the lost agricultural land in the West Bank, see map 1. 
On 8. 8, 2004, the project final workshop was held in Ramallah under the auspices of the Palestinian Minister of Local Government and was attended by a large audience coming from PNA Ministries, municipalities, village councils, NGOs, universities and private planners. The project attracted considerable interest among the participants who provided valuable inputs which will be incorporated in the final project output in the forma of a book that is expected to be published by April 2005.

           1-2 Trans-boundary Air Quality Effects From Urbanization
The overall aim of the project, which is funded by MERC is the measurement of both meteorological and air quality data and the application of mesoscale metrological model and air quality model to gain an increased understanding of the air quality problems associated with current levels of regional urbanization. An air quality and Climatologically station was installed at ARIJ premises in late 2003.  This monitoring station includes four analyzers that measure the concentrations of SO2, CO, Ozone, NO/NO2/NOx in ambient air in addition to the metrological station. A special lab was established at ARIJ to host the station. Observational data was continuously recorded in 2004.  The analysis of the air quality data revealed the levels and sources of pollution.  On the other hand, the Water and Environment Research unit has completed an emission inventory of all Green House and other pollutant Gases for the West Bank. Further information is downloadable from.
http://www.arij.org/units/posters/air-quality/air-quality%202004.htm
       
        1-3 Assessing waste management policy in Palestine
The proposed program aimed at analyzing all the national policies relevant to waste management issues by synthesizing the available data and analyzing the complex interactions between waste generation and management on the one hand and their relevant impacts on natural resources and human activities on the other hand.  ARIJ utilized the Comprehensive Cost Benefit Analysis Method in order to assess the projected impacts of introducing policies and technological solutions to the fields of solid waste and wastewater management.  This quantitative analytical framework was integrated into a logical framework that takes into account the social and political constraints.  The results of the analysis provided information that is useful for decision makers to make practical decisions in the fields of solid waste and wastewater management.  The generated knowledge will be integrated into strategic and “more sustainable than today” waste management policies and plans. Results of the project were disseminated via the World Wide Web and can be downloaded from:
http://www.arij.org/units/posters/waste_management/index.htm
Educational material ensuing from the project was also disseminated via mass media in Al-Ayyam Newspaper in the November 2004 and January 2005 issues

        1-4 The Future of Dead Sea Basin: Options for More Sustainable Water   Management 
The water level of the Dead Sea has declined over 21 m from 1930 to 1997, and alone 12 m in the last 20 years. In less than a century the water level has fallen by approximately 25 m. In the past few years, the water level fell at a rate of 80-100 cm per year, with the average rate of fall accelerating in recent years. As a result, the Dead Sea surface area has shrunk by about 30% in the last 20 years.
Observed Drop in the water level of the Dead Sea between 1976 and 2003
It is not only the Dead Sea that is living up to its name, but the environment of the whole Dead Sea Basin is degrading.  Many scientists say that as water drains away from the Dead Sea, the porous rocks beneath the region are drying out. It means the rocks are no longer able to support the weight of those above them and subside under the pressure. As a result, sinkholes and land subsidence have opened up along the shoreline, caused by lowered water tables and groundwater over-exploitation. Furthermore, the decline of the Dead Sea also affects the freshwater springs on its shores (e.g. Ain Fashkha, Ain Turiba) that support a unique biodiversity.
Map of location of sinkholes and a pictures showing the relative size of sinkholes as compared to mBottom of For.
The overall objective of the project is to establish the scientific basis for a "more sustainable than today" water management and water-related land management in the Dead Sea basin, and from this, to develop practical recommendations that can be used for strategic decision making.
       
        1-5 Monitoring Israeli Settlements (phase two).
This project is supported by the European commission and implemented in cooperation with the Land Research Centre of the Arab Study Society. The main objective of the project is to monitor the physical Israeli violations by collecting, analyzing, updating the database, disseminating and presenting reliable information on Israeli activities and the physical changes they induce on the Palestinian landscape and the subsequent impacts on the local Palestinian people. This is accomplished through conducting field work at affected areas, interviewing local officials and inhabitance to get first hand information and analyzing satellite images, aerial photos and maps. The outputs are case-studies, monthly, quarterly and annual reports and presentations to interested groups about the geo-political status in the West Bank and Gaza including: the Israeli settlements, outposts, bypass roads, the Segregation Wall, land razing, land expropriation, trees uprooting,  movement barriers and house demolitions.

        1-6 Policy tools towards sustainable land use and urban environmental management at municipal level under a transitional political context. The case of Bethlehem district, Palestine.
The project addresses the need for an efficient land-use development and urban environmental management at the local level in Bethlehem district, under the debate of a transitional political context and recent demographic changes; propose policy choices and prospecting the necessary tools to their implementation in order to contribute at the achievement of optimal use of land and natural resources by fostering the role of the local population in the development process as a necessary step towards a sustainable urban development. The project also addresses the need for Palestinian planners and policy makers at the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) level as well as at the local municipal level, to start crafting possible policies for the management of land and the urban environment in Bethlehem district. The project deals with the interaction between population, urban development and the environment with special emphasis given to demographic factors, land use and the urban environment at the main municipalities in Bethlehem district. During 2004 the research team reviewed the formulated policies and legislations on the national level; prepared special questionnaire for the communities leaders on the local legislations and their relations with national legislations and policies, their implementations and needs for development; interviewed the leaders of municipalities of the target areas; prepared a questionnaire for the citizens to investigate the public opinion, knowledge and awareness with regard to certain issues such as: the urban environmental problems, laws and regulations and the flow of information etc; and entered the collected and obtained data in an electronic format in an appropriate program.

        1-7 Water Harvesting and Wastewater Reuse towards Developing Water Resources and Improving Food Security in Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates
This project which was funded by MCC Under the current socio-economic conditions, the livestock husbandry and backyard gardening sectors are very important sources of income and/or subsistence for approximately 33% of the population living in the two Governorates. However, it is highly probable that the two sectors will be abandoned in the near future if no new water resources are developed.  This can have a disastrous impact on food security in the two Governorates as 76% of the population in rural areas is living under the poverty line.  This is particularly true when considering the widening gap between water supply and needs.  Currently, municipal and industrial water needs are estimated at 51.5 MCM whereas current water supplies from all sources do not exceed 26.5 MCM.    The Water Supply and Needs Gap for municipal and industrial uses will at least triple to reach 75 MCM by the year 2020.
Another troublesome aspect is the degrading water quality. In Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates, wastewater is discharged untreated into the environment. Wastewater collection is limited to major cities and refugee camps. The field survey conducted by ARIJ revealed that sewage networks serve approximately 40% and 24% of the Bethlehem and Hebron populations, respectively. The remaining population uses cesspits and open channels for wastewater collection. On the other hand, wastewater collected in sewage networks is discharged untreated into valleys where they form wastewater streams.  The number of sites where the collected wastewater is discharged directly into the environment is around 25 and 73 in the Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates, respectively.
This project aims at increasing water availability for the domestic and agricultural water consumption sectors in order to sustain and develop the socioeconomics of rural communities.  This will be achieved while protecting domestic water supply sources from further deterioration through:
1. Improving food security of 47-52 poor and marginalized households in the three villages of Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates through engaging drilling of cisterns, water resource management, the reuse of treated wastewater and increasing the area of backyard farming through using supplementary irrigation.
2.  Installing a wastewater treatment plants to serve 6,500 villagers (950 households) in the village of Nahalin and reusing treated wastewater to irrigate fodder crops and olive trees. The proposed wastewater treatment technology (Rotating Immersion Disks) will be applied to generate wastewater with quality suitable for irrigating fodder crops and olive trees. This technology is considered socially and environmentally acceptable as it treats raw wastewater biologically using heterogeneous activated sludge kept in suspension. It is designed and installed to treat 200 CM/day. 
3. Demonstrating the feasibility and practicality of small-scale wastewater treatment and re-use to the lay public, the decision makers and the donor community through organizing field demonstrations and educational trips to the operational plants in an attempt to move the application from pilot scale to full scale.

2- Sustainable Agricultural Program 
 
        2-1 Improving field crops in the West Bank (Phase Four) project & Improving Plant Production to Enhance Food Security of Farming Communities in Rural Areas of Bethlehem Governorate project.
The Biodiversity and Agricultural Research Unit continued its demonstrations with farmers to improve households’ food security in the marginal rural areas of Bethlehem Governorate through grants from the Canadian Food Grains Bank (CFGB) and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and ACDI/VOCA. The purpose of these activities is to enhance the sustainability of the rain-fed farming system, improving water management and increasing the production of irrigated agriculture to improve household food security and assist in improving self-sufficiency of the strategic and cash crops in Bethlehem Governorate. In the 2004, 278 farmer families, (74 of them were women farmers families) were provided with seeds of field crops and forages part of them was provided with fertilizers, through which 842 dunums were cultivated. Fifteen villages benefited from this activity.
Furthermore, ARIJ continued its seed breeding program for the second year. This program aims to improve the quantity and quality of production for the local varieties of wheat, snake cucumber and local squash. Seeds of F3 generation produced and stored to replant in year 2005.  On the other hand, twelve dunums of local snake cucumber and squash were planted using organic compost as a fertilizer to improve the production. Also, eight dunums were planted with the seedlings of Acacia and Atriplex rangeland bushes through which additional sixteen farmers were benefited from the distributed compost and rangeland seedlings.     2004 was a drought year and dryland cultivations were severely affected. Despite that, ARIJ’s farmers succeeded in producing 3,096 tons of seeds, 114.4 tons of hay and 152.9 tons of green and semi-green forages of different planted types of field crops and forages, valued around 24,650 USD according to the local market prices. Additionally, an experiment on supplementary irrigation for wheat varieties was conducted for the second year to measure its potential in reducing the vulnerability of rainfed farming. The cultivated wheat varieties under supplementary irrigated gave more seeds than dryland wheat by 3 to 4 folds.   Fifteen cisterns and home gardens were constructed and established in three villages in Bethlehem Governorate. The farmers used the harvested water to irrigate their crops. Around 15.3 tons of different vegetables crops, valued around 6,770 USD according to the local market prices.
On the other hand, ARIJ constructed 29 greenhouses for its partner farmers with a total area of 12.75 dunums in Artas, Wad Fuqin and Battir villages. The first round of greenhouses production was very optimistic and many of the farmers succeeded in getting back their contribution in the greenhouses construction cost. The first round of greenhouses production valued around 21600 USD according to the local market prices.
A training program on green house management was conducted and about 20 farmers in addition to five agricultural extension agents from Bethlehem agricultural directorate participated in the training program.
ARIJ conducted a workshop to discuss the obtained results by the farmers on supplementary irrigation experiments for field crops cultivations. More than forty farmers and specialists attended the workshop.

       2-2 Sustainable Access to Food and Economic Security in Jenin (SAFES Jenin) 
2004 witnessed the launching of the project entitled "Sustainable Access to Food and Economic Security in Jenin "(SAFES Jenin) project. ARIJ is implementing this project jointly with Care International and Agriculture Engineer Cooperative (AEC) in ten villages of Jenin Governorate. During the second half of the year 2004 thirty seven top roof rainwater cisterns were constructed and 500 head of pregnant sheep were distributed to 250 needy households to improve their access to food.
Consultancies

In recognition of its capabilities, and in line with its medium strategy, ARIJ was able to execute a number of consultancies during 2004 that included:
Agricultural Projects Information Systems (APIS): ARIJ was contracted by Spanish Cooperation to develop an integrated agricultural projects database based on the Agricultural Sectoral Working Group meetings recommendations. ARIJ has developed the structure of the Agricultural Projects Information Systems (APIS) by using a Web programming language PHP supported by an MYSQL database search engine. APIS intends to compile all information available concerning agricultural and related projects, as well as relevant information about the different organizations involved in agricultural development activities in the Palestinian Territories. The funding, executing and implementing agencies are entering their institutional profiles, projects’ profile and activities by type and locality into the system. This system will be used as a decision support system for MOA which will serve the donors as well as local NGO’s to improve their activities with transparent approach. It also aims at providing updated information with the latest developments in Agricultural development among all its members. APIS will provide valuable information such us: identification of under-funded areas, level of funding and support to the different sub-sectors and geographical areas, current status of different sub-sectors and their need of specific coordination, etc.

Development of a Water Catchments Information System (WCIS) for Al Baha Village: This consultancy was commissioned by the Ministry of agriculture (MOA) to study the water resources and land use in the catchment area of 500 dunums. The following activities were carried out to fulfill the consultancy objective:
           • development of the land use / land cover map for Al Baha site by purchasing and analyzing LANDSAT images for the site using several image processing techniques (e.g. supervised classification);
           • assessment of water and land resources in  the catchment area;
           • analysis of agricultural pattern in the target area through analyzing the cropping patterns, crop rotation and crop types in the catchment area;
           • development of a soil profile and soil map of the study area;
           • collection of climatic data for the site; and
           • delineating the water catchment boundary and modeling surface water runoff (storm flow).
           • Continuation of farmers training on home gardens management for SAFES project in Jenin.
           • The conduction of the baseline survey consultancy for SAFES project in Jenin. 

Regional Agro-biodiversity conservation project: ARIJ is executing this consultancy for UNDP as part of its regional project to promote the conservation and preservation of important wild relatives and landraces agricultural species. This project is in its fourth year and would be finished by April 2005. The GIS and RS unit has produced the project fourth year interim report and currently is finalizing the project overall report that is going to be submitted to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), ICARDA and UNDP.  
Development of Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Mapping Information Systems (FIVIMS) for the Palestinian Areas.
ARIJ was contracted by FAO in its efforts to build FIVIMS in cooperation with PCBS and the Palestinian Ministry of Planning. ARIJ provided assistance in preparing preliminary a list of data requirements, identifying data gaps and relations between data items as well as delivering a proposed final database structure for FIVIMS. Furthermore, ARIJ staff conducted a GIS training for trainees of the project team and developed a proposed FIVIMS platform, an initial project website with ArcIMS HTML viewer and FIVIMS GIS project that were installed at PCBS.
Production of ‘A three to four minute video clip’
ARIJ produced a video clip under the project ‘Mediterranean Voices: oral history and cultural practices in Mediterranean cities’ in cooperation with ‘Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation’ - Bethlehem. It shows the gradual shrinking of borders from the end of World War I and the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire to the present, with the Segregation Wall encircling Bethlehem. Through graphic animation supported by maps, old etchings, documents and pictures show how with time and new political configurations, the open spaces of the Eastern Mediterranean have shrunk to the present reality of the Palestinian Bantustans. The video clip addressed the issue of enclaves created by the Segregation Wall and the ways they limit people’s mobility and daily transactions and deprive them of some basic rights, such as education, health care, social interaction and family integrity. The clip showed graphically the gradual formation of borders and conveyed a sense of the resulting degradation of a certain quality of life associated with the different periods as new borders emerge. It was submitted to the ‘Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation’ in November 2004.
Wastewater Treatment and reuse Options in the West Bank and Gaza
 
This consultancy was commissioned by the World Bank: The objective of this study was to assess the situation in the WBGS with regards to wastewater treatment and reuse, investigate feasible and preferred options for reuse projects, and identify pilots and strategic direction related to treatment and reuse.  Various options for wastewater treatment and reuse options have been proposed and investigated in several previous studies.  However, few studies have examined the overall picture of wastewater treatment and reuse in WBGS, particularly inclusive of rural areas.  The study produced a report that presents:
      1. An analysis of the current situation with regards to:
               • Water resources including supply and demand analysis
               • Wastewater availability, treatment and reuse
               • The regulatory and institutional framework governing wastewater
               • Social and environmental dimensions
               • Economic and financial aspects
               • A summary of lessons from other countries
      2. Strategic recommendations that also summarize the relevant and key findings of previous sections as implications for options identification and appraisal;
      3. The appraisal framework developed for the assessment of different options, identifies and characterizes zones and highlights best options as appraised against the situation
      4. Five reuse pilot projects proposed for different areas in Palestine.
         The final report can be obtained from the World Bank office in Jerusalem.
         Status of Environment in Bethlehem and Hebron Districts
         This consultancy, which was commissioned by ICRC aimed to assess the environmental status
         in the districts of Bethlehem and Hebron.  The environmental assessment was primarily focused on quantitative analyses in the areas of water scarcity/impairment, wastewater management, and land use and land cover changes.  The study produced a report that presents:
         1.Description of the Physiographic, climate, population distribution and dynamics
         2.An analysis of the current situation with regards to:
         • Socio-economic dimensions
         • Water resources including water availability,  supply and demand analysis
         • Groundwater and surface water quality
         • Wastewater availability, treatment and reuse potential
         • Land use and Land cover.
         3. Strategic recommendations.  Recommendations that are urgently needed to check further environmental and natural resource endowment deterioration.  These also summarize the key findings of previous sections.
         The final report can be obtained from ARIJ providing a written consent from ICRC the Water and Habitat department
         Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP):
ARIJ was contracted by Palestinian Environmental Authority to prepare and update the country report of the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan for Palestine.
Surveying and documenting the Oral Plant History in Palestine:
The project aimed to survey and documents the oral history of the Palestinian Plants. The project was funded partially by both ARIJ and GEF small grant program. Through this project, ARIJ succeeded in producing the first Palestinian agricultural calendar that is based on the Palestinian farmers’ indigenous knowledge including photos of the flowering wild plants in the various months. In addition, a book on the oral agricultural history was published. 1500 calendars and 1500 books were distributed to public libraries and libraries of schools, and universities throughout Palestine. On the other hand, one of the local Television stations hosted the project coordinator for one hour to talk about the project results through discussing and presenting the contents of the book and the calendar.