PCBS: Israeli Occupation Cause Damage of Palestinian Biodiversity

Ramallah, MINA – Marking World Environment Day, which coincides on June 5 with the theme “Biodiversity”, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Environmental Quality Authority (EQA) in a statement on Thursday said Israeli occupation is the main cause of damage to biodiversity in the occupied Palestinian territories.

PCBS and EQA noted biodiversity in Palestine is threatened with great danger that can cause the extinction of many living organisms and their disappearance very quickly, if no immediate action is taken to stop it and its effects, thus Palinfo reports.

These threats are due to the continuing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, natural resources, activities such as the establishment of illegal Israeli settlements on green land and nature reserves, construction of shortcuts, construction of annexations and expansion walls.

As a result of these activities are bulldozing forest land, logging, fragmentation, habitat fragmentation and the natural environment, distribution of wildlife populations, and placing many species on the list of endangered species.

The PCBS and EQA also link threats to Palestinian biodiversity with invasive alien species, whether birds or plants, which inhabit natural habitats and fragile and vulnerable ecosystems that do not exist in Palestine,

“The depletion of natural environmental resources such as overfishing, overgrazing and logging, as well as pollution resulting from human activities, such as solid waste, agricultural waste, and excessive use of pesticides in addition to pollution with wastewater,” he explained.

Another threat is the destruction of productive and fertile land which causes reduced food production so that national food security becomes weak.

In addition, other problems are the lack of public awareness of the importance of biodiversity and sustainability for future generations, the scarcity of financial resources and the failure to allocate a budget for biodiversity conservation and its components. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)