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FoEME's efforts to rehabilitate the Jordan River and establish the cross border Jordan River Peace Park were featured this month by TIME magazine in a postcard article and multi-media video.  FoEME's work to rehabilitate the Lower Jordan River is critical due to the dire state of the River.  The campaign is focusing on identifying a range of environmental flows necessary to sustain the Jordan River and through research and public awareness create the political will to support its rehabilitation.  Yale University's Forestry and Environment School is partnering with FoEME in this effort together with local Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli experts.  For recent media coverage from Time Magazine, the Financial Times, The Independent and more please visit our website.   

The new Lower Jordan River campaign was launched with funding provided by the Goldman Fund and the Green Environment Fund.

This month FoEME's Good Water Neighbors' Youth Water Trustees from the Palestinian community of Baka al Sharkyia and the Israeli community of Emek Hefer were invited to participate in an art workshop at the yearly Alexander River Festival.  During the session GWN Water Trustees, together with local children, created art projects out of plastic bags and recycled materials.  The activity drew a great deal of interest from festival participants – particularly teachers who pledged to undertake similar environmental focused activities in their local schools.

Additionally, the Good Water Neighbors Project held a regional staff meeting in FoEME's scenic Sheikh Hussein Ecological Park in Jordan. Accommodation and meals were provided by area Bedouin families in order to support local livelihoods and strengthen FoEME's relationship with the park's neighbors.  For recent media coverage from The New Security Beat, MidEast Youth, and Nana please click here. 

The Good Water Neighbors project is funded by USAID Conflict Management and Mitigation Program.

The FoEME endorsed Promoting dialogue and cultural Understanding of our Shared Heritage (PUSH) project, which partners the Jordanian Society for Sustainable Development (JSSD), Bezalel Academy for Art and Design and Al Quds University in a tri-lateral effort to identify, develop and promote greater understanding of the region's shared cultural and natural heritage conducted a three-day site visit in Jordan this month.  The site visit brought together regional experts, site managers and tour guides from Israel, Palestine and Jordan to learn about sites of shared heritage in Jordan. 

The PUSH project also held a two-day Design Workshop, hosted by Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem, with the participation of numerous heritage experts and architects from the region.  The workshop aimed to propose design methods for promoting the understanding of the region's shared cultural and natural heritage at each of the PUSH pilot sites including: Beit Shean, Sabastia, Pella (Tabkat Fahel), Irtas, Bakoura and Gesher.  For more information on the PUSH project please visit their website at www.pushproject.org.

The PUSH project is jointly funded by the European Union Partnership for Peace Programme and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

This month FoEME presented the Pro-Aquifer project at a seminar on Groundwater Resources Management in the Middle East/North Africa Region at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Sweden.  The World Water Week is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development.  

In addition, as part of a "hands-on" training course for municipal officials on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the Pro-Aquifer project conducted a tour in Umm El Fahem to practice on-site GIS mapping techniques. 

The Pro-Aquifer project receives financial support from the European Union’s LIFE Program and Green Cross France.

Public response to last month's World Bank public hearings in Israel, Palestine and Jordan regarding the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal project continued throughout the month.  Alongside other representatives of environmental and civil society organizations and community representatives, FoEME demanded that the World Bank broaden the scope of its feasibility study to include the study of alternatives particularly the study of bringing fresh water to the Dead Sea by rehabilitating the Lower Jordan River.  FoEME's full position paper is available here.  For new media coverage from National Geographic Traveler, World Watch Institute, the Los Angeles Times, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Hamodia (Hebrew), IRIN and others click here.

Emergency funding for FoEME's work in this area is being provided by the Green Environment Fund.

Nearly a year and a half after FoEME and others petitioned the Israeli High Court against the Separation Barrier around Ma’aleh Adumim on the grounds that its construction will have a high ecological cost, the Israeli government responded by rerouting the barrier and to partially reduce the amount of Palestinians lands to be included within the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement block.  However, FoEME is not satisfied with the compromise and will continue with its objection to the barrier route as it will continue to dissect the Judean Desert's open spaces, preventing the movement of already endangered wildlife and biodiversity.   For related media articles see Ha'aretz and the Jerusalem Post. 

FoEME's advocacy work in this area is sponsored by the New Israel Fund.