Tyre, whose very name is enough to evoke a glorious
past, from Pygmalion to Dido Elissa, from Alexander
to Hannibal and so many others. From the days of Christ
the Lord Our Savior down to modern times, how many
happenings this sacred land has seen take place on
its soil! From Phoenician Tyre down to the present-day
Sour, history has written down the heroism of its
children in letters of gold! City rich in its archaeology,
with its port, hippodrome, edifices and temples!
Though since earliest times the people of Lebanon
have conserved their resources, their forests, beaches,
valleys, plains, springs of gushing water and much
else, now when one looks at the Cedars, Dynieh, Kadisha,
the Valley of Adonis and the shores one sees the invasion
of contemporary technologies bringing pollution and
destruction of the ecology thanks to haphazard building
with no respect for principles of town planning, deforestation,
and desecration of the coast for the building of resorts
and harbors where boats spew their filth into the
sea.
Grandiose projects have had respect neither for the
archaeological sites nor for the nation’s heritage.
The land of Lebanon had been compelled to create special
nature reserves in order to protect its environment.
In November 1998 Tyre, the modern Sour, eighty kilometers
from the capital Beirut, resolved to transform all
its southern shoreline into a reserve of eight square
kilometers divided only by the camps of the Palestinian
refugees.
In all this region the ecological norms, both terrestrial
and maritime, are to be respected, for here is one
of the most beautiful stretches of beach in the world.
In the center of this reserve will be cultivated fields
where springs give forth water that is pure for drinking
and can be used for irrigation, as they have done
for four thousand years, that is to say since the
time of our Phoenician forebears.
There are also wetlands, the Ras el-‘Ain, of
great natural beauty, forming areas where various
amphibious and aquatic animals abound. The water from
its channels flows out into the sea, making a stretch
that is only slightly salt and is characterized by
the presence of varieties of fish important for the
future of the fishing industry, since here the fish
spawn without risk and marine turtles can lay their
eggs without fear. This is something which is certainly
not true of the Asswan Dam, the construction of which
has had catastrophic effects for much of the aquatic
flora and fauna.
One part of the reserve will be open to the public
and will allow holiday-makers to swim, to bathe, to
relax and to enjoy themselves without any harm to
the environment. These future projects will permit
the region to be developed and to keep its character
for a sociable, ecologic, cultural and humane tourism.
Joseph Matar - Translation from the French
by K.J. Mortimer
- Nature Beach reserve of Tyre: >> View
Movie << (2007-04-01)
- Nature Beach reserve of Tyre: >> View
Movie << (2015-07-15)
