syrian Eco facts

Much of Syria's natural vegetation has been depleted by farming, livestock grazing, and cutting of trees for firewood and construction. The thick forests that once covered western Syria have been drastically reduced; as a result, soil erosion and desertification are extensive. The salinity of the soil is also a problem, causing a loss of more than $300 million worth of agricultural products per year. Other environmental problems include pollution of coastal waters from oil spills and human wastes. Also contamination of inland waterways by industrial wastes and sewage.
Only 64% of the people living in rural areas have pure water. The pollution of the nation's water supply also leads to the spread of diseases. The nation's cities produce an average of 1.3 million tons of solid waste per year.

Environmental awareness has been a growing concern in the Arab world. The UN and Middle Eastern environmental organizations have sponsored Arab Environment Day to bring the focus of the nation's attention on environmental problems.

The quantity of native wildlife had been so seriously depleted that in 1979 the government banned hunting for five years. In 2001, four of Syria's mammal species and seven of its bird species were endangered. Seven types of plants were also endangered. The Mediterranean monk seal, bald ibis, and African softshell turtle are endangered. The Anatolian leopard, cheetah, Syrian wild ass, painted frog and Persian fallow deer are extinct.

Green Syria

Renewable energy resources in the Syrian Arab Republic are surveyed. Potential of solar, wind and bio-mass resources and their promising applications are analyzed. The annual average long-term solar radiation on a horizontal plane is measured and found to be 5.2 kWh/m2 per day. Wind speed measurements were conducted in more than twenty stations spread all over the country. The prospects of these measurements indicate that wind is another promising source of renewable energy in Syria. The registered annual mean daily wind speed in some regions of the country reaches more than 13 m/sec. Theoretical study estimates that the bio-gas production of the daily wastes of humans, animals and agriculture is higher than 300 million cubic meters per year.

Both wind energy potential and the electricity that could be generated by the wind for the Syrian land have been evaluated. An appropriate computer program was especially prepared and designed to perform the required calculations, mainly the wind energy potential and the generated electricity, using the available meteorological data provided by the Syrian Atlas. The program is capable of processing the wind data for any specific area that is of course, in accordance with the needed requirements in fields of researches and applications. Moreover, calculations show that a huge energy potential is available for direct exploitation and as much as twice the current electricity consumption in Syria can be generated by the wind resource.

Syrian Wind Energy

Syrian Solar Energy

plants