1. The rapid erosion of traditional knowledge and skills of sustainable use of biodiversity resources is eliminating a rich source of indigenous know-how that is badly needed for rehabilitating and improving the status of this resource.
2. Lack of a tradition of community participation including women, youth and community elders in public policy formulation and decision making is depriving the emerging state of Palestine of its most creative cultural background and human capacity for its future prosperity
3. The over-riding inappropriate Israeli model of development and its lack of respect for the natural environment, together with the blind adoption of this model by Palestinian farmers, engineers, planners and others in their own approach to development have precluded the use of their own traditional knowledge and the quest for more appropriate models for agriculture, industry, energy production, roads, urban development, etc.
4. The relatively low literacy rate of 65 % in Palestine is a constraint to access information on the conservation of natural resources and biodiversity.

Agenda for Action

Immediate Priority (implementation within 1-5 years)

1. Survey, understand and strengthen the traditional resource management institutions still active for biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural resources in Palestine. Carry out participatory action research with elders and other knowledgeable people on rehabilitating such systems that may have fallen in disarray.
2. Provide rural communities with information and training on indigenous threatened species and their uses. Provide rural communities with access to appropriate technology innovations that can be effectively incorporated in their own resource management systems and help them conserve biodiversity.
3. Continue current biodiversity awareness campaign, targeting all sectors of Palestinian society including government and other decision-makers.
4. Build social communication activities (including two-way communication, discussion groups, participatory assessment exercises, etc.) with emphasis on:
   • Traditional and indigenous systems of resource management and their fundamental role in maintaining biodiversity, using natural resources sustainably and developing genetic biodiversity of domestic species
   • Marine environmental issues, including dangers of over-fishing and marine pollution and the need to protect marine mammals and sea turtles.
   • The importance of invertebrates in maintaining ecological balance.
   • The importance of amphibians and their habitats in relation to pest management and ecological balance.
   • The importance of reptiles and their habitats, their ecological role and their importance as a source of food for globally endangered migratory birds.
   • The importance of birds and their habitats, emphasising the location of Palestine along a globally important spring and fall flyway for migratory birds.
   • The importance of mammals and their conservation.
   • The importance of medicinal plants.
5. Work with Palestinian artists, elders, religious leaders and teachers to build awareness of the importance and values of biodiversity into the popular cultureý.
6. Promote awareness for increased Palestinian sense of responsibility to conserve its repatriated biodiversity at all levels.
7. Establish a network of school clubs for the protection of nature.

Mid-term Priority (implementation within 6-10 years)

1. Strengthen national or sub-national institutions provinformation on the conservation and potential values of biodiversity.
2. Assist the Ministry of Education with development of a curriculum that includes the basic concepts of environmental education.
3. Develop appropriate environmental education facilities (interpretative staff and display centres, nature walks etc.) in protected areas.
4. Carry out research on the specific ethical, cultural, and religious concerns of Palestinian people related to conservation of biodiversity.

Long-term Priority (implementation > 10 years)

1. Ensure that the rehabilitation of archaeological sites for tourism includes environmental information and management.
2. Establish a biodiversity information network to speed the flow of data for local, national and global assessments.

Notes

The full development of resource management capacity in Palestinian society (including knowledge, skills, attitudes and institutions) is here promoted in place of the more usual “awareness raising” initiatives. Moreover, rather than emphasising environmental values as top-down, “scientific” considerations, the chosen approach sees them – at least potentially – at the centre of traditional resource management systems (too often misunderstood and undervalued in modern societies). Conventional approaches, such as incorporation of biodiversity education in school curricula, are not neglected, but integrated within more participatory, culturally-sensitive and ultimately more effective approaches. In this sense, two-way communication systems (e.g. dialogues, participatory appraisal, radio talk shows, twinning of schools, etc.) are preferable to one way communication systems such as TV.

Potential Partners

Local and indigenous communities, the Palestinian Authority via the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Planning and International Co-operation, MOA (Ministry of Agriculture), PEnA (Palestinian Environmental Authority), Governmental schools, Palestinian NGOs, Private schools, businesses, relevant international organisations including UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP.