Development of the Lebanese Marine Environment to Serve the Needs of Coastal Communities.
On August 19, 2015, in an event held under the auspices of the President of the Council of Ministers H.E. Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail in Beirut, an MoU was signed between the Ambassador of Italy to Lebanon H.E. Massimo Marotti and the Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research-Lebanon (CNRS-L) Dr. Mouin Hamzé to embark on Phase Two of the CANA project.
Funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a budget of €700,000 (in addition to a CNRS-L cash and in-kind contribution of €150,000), the CANA Plus project aims at contributingtoward improving the knowledge of coastal marine eco-systems and toward proper coastal management as well as toward bringing economic and social benefits to coastal communities and territories. The project will continue to monitor the coastline and continue to study biophysical alterations of the coastal area while supporting local authorities toward achieving decentralized and sustainable management of the shoreline.
The Three Main Tasks:
- Monitoring wastewater outflows and environmental remediation studies at newly established and functioning wastewater treatment plants (Batroun, Tabarja, Ghadir, and Sidon).
- Studying marine freshwater springs: sources, quality, abundance, and seasonal outflows (Chekka, Maameltein, Qasmieh, and Tyre).
- Surveying the alteration of coastal eco-systems caused by estuaries and sediment outflows (contaminants) into the sea and their effects on freshwater/seawater interface and geological changes in the nature of the seafloor - erosion and degradation. (Nahr Ibrahim, Nahr el-Damour, and Nahr el-Qasmieh).