The fragile peace has given inspectors from the World Conservation Union (IUCN) a chance to get in and assess the environmental damage caused by the massive spill for the first time and their observations paint a depressing picture.
The experts were invited to take part in a fact-finding mission by the Lebanese Environment Ministry and discovered coastal ecosystems ravaged by the toxic oil spill, which has carpeted the seabed and coated both the beaches and the rocky shoreline of the country.
Breeding grounds of endangered loggerhead turtles have been plastered in oil and algae which would normally be feeding fish stocks has been contaminated and washed ashore.
While the heavy fuel oil itself is bad enough, samples taken of the slick have also contained highly toxic substances such as poly-nuclear aromatic hydrocrabons (PAH) which are likely to have a lasting effect on marine life.
“This is a particular risk to marine organisms,” says Rick Steiner, an oil expert and member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental and Economic Social Policy who worked on the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
“PAHs provoke cancer, they can accumulate in the species’ organs and cause long term impacts such as the sudden collapse of fish populations years after contamination, as happened in Alaska.”
The Palm Islands Nature Reserve, located off the coast of Tripoli, is home to fragile ecosystems and has been badly hit by the spill.
As well as its population of turtles, the reserve is also home to 156 species of birds, including many migratory birds depending on direct contact with the now contaminated water.
The reserve’s polluted environment is also putting endangered loggerhead turtles at risk. Threats come from the oil film on the water, when they come up to the surface to breathe and from the contaminated beaches where they nest.
Rare monk seals, which have been observed in the past in the reserve’s waters, might well be affected as well. They are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
“Palm Islands Nature Reserve is a micro sample representing the overall situation of the country’s marine environment,” says Ghassan Jaradi, ornithologist and head of the reserve’s management committee.
On Palm Islands Nature Reserve, the IUCN mission helped start clean-up operations and biodiversity monitoring, by providing technical advice and locating resources.
Around 15,000 tons of fuel oil spilled into the sea following the Israeli bombing of the Jiyyeh power plant fuel tanks south of Beirut in mid July (see related story).
The spill spread northwards contaminating 150 km of the Lebanese seashore, reaching the southern Syrian coast. Affected areas are around Beirut, Tabarja, the historic town of Byblos, in Anfeh and the Palm Islands Nature Reserve off Tripoli.
The ongoing flight embargo prevented the IUCN team from assessing offshore contamination, but judging from information available, there are still large amounts of oil drifting in the sea, on shore, and sinking to the sea bed.
Amani hiyo dhaifu imetoa nafasi kwa wakaguzi wa Umoja wa Ulinzi wa Dunia (IUCN) kuingia ndani na kutathmini uharibifu wa mazingira unaosababishwa na kuvuja kwa maji kwa mara ya kwanza na uchunguzi wao unaonyesha picha ya kukata tamaa. Wataalamu hao walialikwa kushiriki katika uchunguzi wa kweli uliofanywa na Wizara ya Mazingira ya Lebanon na kugundua mifumo ya ikolojia ya pwani iliyoharibiwa na kuvuja kwa mafuta yenye sumu, ambayo imefunika sakafu ya bahari na kufunika pwani na pwani ya nchi hiyo. Maeneo ya kuzaliana ya kasa wa loggerhead walio hatarini mwa kutoweka yamefunikwa kwa mafuta na mwani ambao kwa kawaida unalisha hifadhi za samaki umechafuliwa na kuoshwa pwani. Wakati mafuta ya mafuta yenyewe ni mbaya kutosha, sampuli zilizochukuliwa kutoka kwa slick pia zimejumuisha vitu vyenye sumu sana kama vile hydrocarbons za harufu ya poly-nuclear (PAHs) ambazo zinaweza kuwa na athari ya kudumu kwenye maisha ya baharini. "Hii ni hatari maalum kwa viumbe vya baharini, ""alisema Rick Steiner, mtaalamu wa mafuta na mwanachama wa Tume ya IUCN juu ya Sera ya Mazingira na Kiuchumi ya Jamii ambaye alifanya kazi kwenye uvujaji wa mafuta wa Exxon Valdez huko Alaska." "HPAs huchochea kansa, zinaweza kujikusanya katika viungo vya spishi na kusababisha athari za muda mrefu kama vile kuanguka ghafla kwa idadi ya samaki miaka baada ya uchafuzi, kama ilivyotokea Alaska. ""Hifadhi ya Asili ya Visiwa vya Palm, iliyoko pwani ya Tripoli, ni nyumbani kwa mifumo dhaifu ya ikolojia na imeathiriwa sana na kuvuja." Pamoja na idadi yake ya kasa, hifadhi hiyo pia ni nyumbani kwa spishi 156 za ndege, ikiwa ni pamoja na ndege wengi wanaohama kulingana na mawasiliano ya moja kwa moja na maji sasa yaliyochafuliwa. Mazingira yaliyochafuliwa ya hifadhi hiyo pia yanawahatarisha kasa wanaoitwa loggerhead ambao wako hatarini mwa kutoweka. Hatari zinatokana na mafuta yaliyo juu ya maji, wanapokuja juu ya maji ili kupumua, na kutoka kwenye fuo zilizosafishwa ambapo wao hufanya viota. Foki wa kawaida, ambao wamegunduliwa zamani katika maji ya hifadhi hiyo, wanaweza pia kuathiriwa. Mnyama huyo amewekwa katika orodha ya IUCN ya spishi zilizo hatarini. "Hifadhi ya Asili ya Visiwa vya Palm ni sampuli ndogo inayowakilisha hali ya jumla ya mazingira ya baharini ya nchi hiyo", anasema Ghassan Jaradi, mtaalamu wa ndege na mkuu wa kamati ya usimamizi wa hifadhi hiyo. Katika Hifadhi ya Asili ya Visiwa vya Palm, ujumbe wa IUCN ulisaidia kuanza shughuli za kusafisha na ufuatiliaji wa utofauti wa kibiolojia, kwa kutoa ushauri wa kiufundi na kupata rasilimali. Mafuta ya mafuta ya tani 15,000 yamesambaa baharini baada ya Israeli kupiga mabomu mabomu ya tanki za mafuta ya kituo cha umeme cha Jeddah kusini mwa Beirut katikati ya Julai. Mvua hiyo ilisambaa kuelekea kaskazini na kuchafua pwani ya Lebanoni kwa umbali wa kilomita 150 na kufikia pwani ya kusini mwa Syria. Mikoa iliyoathiriwa ni karibu na Beirut, Tabarja, mji wa kihistoria wa Byblos, Anfah na Hifadhi ya Asili ya Visiwa vya Palm nje ya Tripoli. "Uzuiaji wa ndege uliokuwa ukiendelea ulizuia timu ya IUCN kutathmini uchafuzi wa pwani, lakini kwa kuzingatia habari inayopatikana, bado kuna kiasi kikubwa cha mafuta yanayoelea baharini, pwani, na kuzama kwenye sakafu ya bahari. """