Recycling: the why, how and where in Bahrain
Info page on the environment and recycling resources in Bahrain
Bahrain population
The current population of Bahrain is 1,499,269 as of Monday, July 15th, 2024, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.
The population density in the Kingdom of Bahrain is 1,937.82 people/square kilometer in 2024, which ranks 7th in the world. Bahrain is the 4th most densely populated sovereign state on earth.
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The only sovereign states that have a greater density are city states. The northern region of Bahrain is so densely populated and urbanized that it is often considered a single massive metro area.
Environmental issues and challenges related to artificial islands and greenbelt rezoning in Bahrain
Desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land.
Arable land (hectares) in Bahrain was reported at 2100 ha in 2021
according to the World Bank up from 1600 ha in 2015.
Periods of drought, and dust storms; coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and distribution stations, coastal industries.
Lack of freshwater resources (groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs)
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Image: agro.bh Feb 2023
There are many changes to the island between 1986 and 2020 due to reclamation, increasing land mass on average by 7.5 percent each year.
This growth comes primarily at the expense of vegetated land and wetlands.
In 1990 the surface area of Bahrain was 665.3 km2.
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Today it is recorded at 786.8 Km2.
This is an increase of 103 km2 in 34 years." And still reclamation is going on.
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On the right the proposed increase in landmass by way of reclamation "vision 2030"
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Total area of the Kingdom of Bahrain: 8,269 Km2.
Territorial water area: 7,482.2 Km2.
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source: upda.gov.bh
This more than 20% expansion is due to sea reclamation, mainly for housing and industrial developments.
The number of islands that make up Bahrain's archipelago as of the end of 2019 were about 99 islands 33 natural and 67 artificial and still more areas are dredged and filled in as we speak, some illegally like in Tubli Bay.
Amwaj 9, Bahrain Bay 7, Diyar Al Muharraq 7, Durrat al Bahrain 15 ,Halat Nuaim- seltah 1, Northern City, 14, Nurana 2, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Island 1, Bahrain Bay 7, Reef Island 1, East Sitra 1
Bahrain has international agreements since 1969 and is party to:
Oil pollutions 1969 and 1971, Wetlands 1971, cultural and national heritage 1972, Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2016
For full list go to this link ​- Supreme council for the Environment
To Contact the Commission: Toll free number: 80001112 / 1738 6999
Email: info@sce.gov.bh
Artificial Islands and housing projects
Damage to the shoreline, beaches and marine environment is mainly due to reclaiming the reefs and sea for freehold housing projects, worth billions of investors dollars, these projects are mainly aimed at foreigners, GGC nationals and well off Bahraini's as they are beyond and above what the local population can afford.
Population growth and industrial development have reduced the amount of agricultural land and lowered the water table, leaving aquifers vulnerable to saline contamination.
In recent years, the government has attempted to limit extraction of groundwater (in part by expansion of seawater desalinization facilities) and to protect vegetation from further erosion.
In 1994, 100% of Bahrain's urban dwellers and 57% of the rural population had pure water.
Bahrain has developed its oil resources at the expense of its agricultural lands. (2.9% (1961) 2.7 % (2021) arable land)
"Rezoned Adhari"
Image source: gdnonline.com
This is the result of rezoning arable land that might otherwise be productive are gradually claimed by the expansion of the desert, or "rezoned" and turned into government housing projects or investment plots and private housing projects by landowners in the "green Belts" near the Saudi causeway, or like Adhari and surrounding areas.
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GDN: 3 January 2017
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HARMFUL chemicals are being used to render arable land useless by farm-owners allegedly seeking building and construction permits, claimed a top municipal official. Northern Municipal Council chairman Mohammed Buhamood said over the years Bahrain had lost potentially millions of dinars because farmers had opted for urbanisation and quick money instead on focusing on agriculture.
The Al Areen Wildlife park and Reserve
Al Areen Wildlife park and Reserve was established in 1976 and is home to threatened Gulf species, including the Arabian oryx, gazelle, zebra, giraffe, Defassa waterbuck, addax, and lesser kudu. Bahrain has also established captive breeding centers for falcons and for the rare Houbara bustard. The goitered gazelle, the greater spotted eagle, and the green sea turtle are considered endangered species.
Originality the wildlife reserve was 10 km2 in 1976 but it is now down to a mere 5.43 km2.
This decrease is due to it now being part of Al Areen Holdings, who "rezoned" part of the wild life park for projects like:
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Banyan Hotel Bahrain", now Raffles Alareen Palace,
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The “”Lost Paradise of Dilmun” Water Park,
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Uptown - apartments
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Tilal - townhouses
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Waterpark Hotel
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Oryx Hills - residential
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a number of residential villages, entertainment and recreational facilities.
AlAreen Holdings masterplan
Satellite images starting from 1987 to 2013 show substantial environmental change on the island nation of Bahrain, including shifting vegetation patterns and more than a doubling in the extent of urbanization, according to a new analysis by the Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Tubli Bay is an inshore coastal area situated in the north-east of Bahrain.
It is characterized by its unique ecology as it provides a habitat for important coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves and seagrass
It is the only place in Bahrain with an ecological interaction between mangroves, seagrass and corals.
These three systems are important for productivity of coastal fisheries that society depends on.
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image mangroves 2003 https://www.geocaching.com bay birdlife
Manama, the capital city, lies north of the Bay. It has a population of about 147 000 people and a metro population of 330,000 and the population is increasing as Manama is the commercial hub of Bahrain and many people prefer to live within easy reach of the centre.
This can be clearly seen in the area surrounding Tubli Bay where a large area of coast is being reclaimed for urban development each year.
image by Humood A Naser Video By Bahrain Drone
For the past forty or so years, however, the Bay has been under threat from increased human activity. Infilling the coast for development has caused the size of the Bay to decrease from 23.5 square km in 1956 to 16.1 square km in 1996 to
13.52 square Km in 2024 due to illegal land reclamation, it was by Royal degree decide in 2006 that is was to be a 13,5 square Km protected area
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Sand washing plants continue to discharge silt into the Bay daily, and the dumping of rubble and litter within its surroundings still remain a point of concern. Fishing activities are carried out in the Bay, even though it represents a nursery ground for commercially important species.
Tubil bay used to be an excellent incubator for prawns and fish and was abundant with migratory birds
This on-going illegal activity is causing even more degradation / destruction to the Bay’s vulnerable ecology.
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A nursery ground of exceptional significance for commercial fish, shrimps, and harbors a variety of inertial and sub-tidal marine biota. It has declared a protected reserve within the sites included in the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (RAMSAR) of 1997
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Tubli Water Pollution Control Centre discharges in excess of 100 000 m3 of effluent overflow into the Bay every day.
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Excessive and continuous discharge of sewage effluents in Tubli Bay, a shallow semi-enclosed bay located south of Manama, causes severe pollution and degradation of the marine environment in the bay and nearby regions
The expansion of TUBLI Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) – Phase 4
The Project aims to upgrade the secondary treatment unit at Tubli STP, using the ‘HYBACS’ technique, which is to improve the quality of water and the 100,000m³/day overflow to Tubli Plant.
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The project deploys proprietary SMARTTM reactor units that stimulate a special and specific bacterial pattern with a high biological activity that has the ability to deal with different levels of organic materials.
This will reflect on the quality of waters discarded in Tubli Bay.
It will also create balance between the present capacity of the plant (200,000 m³/day) and the daily flow to the plant, which is estimated to be 300,000m³
Finished & Current housing projects on artificial filled in coastal areas - New Towns
Halat Naim 23 housing units
Busaiteen 326 housing units
Nabih Saleh 225 housing units
Sitra 3 746 housing units
Budaiya 52 housing units
East Sitra new Town 4000 housing units
Salman Town New Town
Madinat Al Shamaliya15000 housing units
East HiddNew Town 4500 housing units
Al Lawzy lake - Past Project
Allawzi lake was partly filled in to make room for 832 housing units. (under past projects at the Ministry of Housing)
(image GDN)
However the newspapers have been full about the fact that something went really wrong, and the only natural lake in Bahrain has become a festering swamp due to reclamation.
The new housing development has been halted with "plans" to restore the once protected wildlife sanctuary.
Now I ask you who made the decision to give the project to build houses to private developer Gulf House Engineering - which by the way was contractually obliged to develop the "Al Luzi Sanctuary, natural habitat and Public park".
The project now is specified as - 296 apartments, 198 villas, first class restaurants and cafes surrounding the lake.
(494 housing units not 832 as mentioned on the website of the Ministry of Housing).(GDN pg5 27th December 2016)
Reclamation work cut off/restricted the natural flow of fresh water, making it a cesspool with stinky stagnant water, a breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes and other unwanted bugs.
It use to have tterapins and fish, even frogs lined with reeds around the lake. Teeming with wildlife.
Why was the housing Ministry granted plots of land in a protected zone? Again - by popular way of rezoning.
The Northern municipality is planning to restore it in co-operation of the developing company.
Lets put it this way talk is cheap and most of the plans never see the light of day, because it will be cheaper and less of an headache to fill it in, and that will be pushed by those who only do lipservice to conserving the natural environment.
I will only believe it when I see it.
All pictures below from (source) www.hawar-islands.com (offline right now)
A real good source on birding in Bahrain.
Lawzi lake 2010 Dumistan
The lake, our biggest body of brackish water and all that remains of an old long abandoned sandpit, was full of Terns; White-cheeked and Little, Reef Herons and Black-winged Stilts, a few Kentish Plovers, Little Egrets, a solitary Grey Heron and Little Grebes . With breeding Slender-billed Gulls.
1.5M sqm reclamation development
SSH was awarded the new Ras Al Barr Resort in Bahrain, following a tendering process after competing against national and international firms for PK Development Company W.L.L.
The Ras Al Barr development is located to the south of Durrat Al Bahrain resort and in close proximity to Ras Al Barr.
The project will be developed on a total site area of 1100 hectares, with approximately 440 hectares of reclaimed land.
The development will require both dredging and reclamation activities as well as subsequent development of the reclaimed land mass.
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Image: sshic.com
The first phase is an open gated development and consists of three islands comprising of small to medium residential clusters, waterfront apartment blocks, souk, yacht club, four hotels, schools, commercial area, mosque, and beach area.
The second phase consists of the gated community development comprising of medium to large residential waterfront mix spread on 17 islands.
SSH was selected as the main consultant, and services to the new 1.5M sqm reclamation development will include master planning, architecture and engineering, supported by AECOM for infrastructure, marine, and environmental consultancy services.
Another future housing project Located at the southern tip of the west coast of Bahrain by SSH.
The development includes nine hotels and resorts, residential offerings comprising golf course villas, island villas and townhouses, as well as a yacht club, mall and other waterfront amenities.
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Image: sshic.com
Published on Apr 23, 2015
On the shores of the Gulf, a research team from Qatar’s Environmental Science Centre are on their way to study a vital component of the world’s oceans: mangroves.
According to a World Wildlife Fund for Nature report, the entire multi-trillion dollar marine resource is in danger of failing.
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The oceans are changing faster than at any other point in tens of millions of years with intense pressure from overfishing, pollution and acidification.
Nick Clark reports from Qatar.
H.E. Eng. Wael bin Nasser Al Mubarak Minister of Ministry of Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture discussed in 2019 the planting of mangrove trees and the plan to quadruple their number by 2035, as part of Bahrain’s afforestation plan to double the number of trees by 2035 and quadruple the number of mangroves, in accordance with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
He underlined Bahrain’s goal to grow its tree population from 1.8 million trees to 3.6 million by 2035, while increasing its mangrove trees from 400,000 trees to 1.6 million by then and to reach zero neutrality by 2060 through its afforestation project.
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The BNA reported that In 2022 110,000 mangrove trees were planted, several plantations that produce large numbers of these trees are in a number of locations such as Ra's al Mamtalah, Dohat Arad, Tubli, Diraz, South of Durra, Halat Nuaim-Seltah, Ras Hayan and others.
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Bahrain planted an astounding 749,000 mangrove seedlings by the end of November of 2023, boasting a remarkable 163% surge beyond the annual target of 460,000.
Bahrain does not have dams, centralized irrigation systems or large wellfields. Its water-related infrastructure consists mainly of desalination and wastewater treatment plants.
image: gulfconstructiononline.com
Water desalination and power Plants are located in
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Sitra 1975
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Ras Abu Jarjur 1984
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Al dur 1990
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Hidd 2000
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Durrat al Bahrain 2020
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The Bahrain Water System provides 187 MGD (Max. Capacity) potable water to the population in accordance with the standards of quality laid down by WHO through five water production plants using three methods either Multi-Stage Flashing (MSF), Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) or Reverse Osmosis (RO).
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The Water transferred from the production plants to / between transmission stations through pumping main with length 569.7 km of ductile iron pipes.
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The water is stored in 124 ground storage tanks distributed in different locations with total capacity 623.32 MG.
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Sterilized water by chlorine is provided to distribution network by gravity through 39 elevated tanks (tower) distributed in different areas in Bahrain with total capacity 35.91 MGD.
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Bahrain also has 55 wells with ability to pump up to 30 MGD of Ground Water in emergency cases.
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Customers are divided into three categories, Domestic, Commercial and Industrial with an average consumption of 200 "Million m3" in the year 2020.​​​
There are about 1,483 desalination units operating in the Arabian Gulf countries, which account for 57.9% of the worldwide desalting plant capacity.
The dominant plant type is multi-stage flash (MSF) which accounts for 86.7% of the desalting capacity, while the reverse osmosis accounts for only 10.7%
Pollution from oil production was accelerated by the Persian Gulf War in 1990 and the resulting damage to oil-producing facilities in the Gulf area, which threatened the purity of both coastal, desalinated and ground water, damaging coastlines, coral reefs, and marine vegetation through oil spills and other discharges
The nuclear facility in (Bushehr) Iran contributes also to pollution of the Arabian Gulf with catastrophic result for Bahrain as it will be our sole source of water after the aquifers that we share with Saudi Arabia are dried up.
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(Already we are seeing a huge increase of Thyroid related disease in Bahrain since 1990)​
Following the spill, researchers and environmentalists had serious concerns about the mortality of the Persian Gulf’s ecosystem
In 1991, Iraqi forces attempted to stop US marines from landing on the Gulf coast by opening valves in the Sea Island oil terminal and dumped oil from tankers across the Persian Gulf directly into the sea.
This caused an oil slick over 100 miles wide and 5 inches thick that covered much of the Gulf. The final tally puts the amount of oil spilled between 6 million and 8 million barrels of oil.
By April 1991, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil had already been recovered
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The spill is responsible for environmental damage to coastline sediments and marine species and ecosystems.
Considered an act of environmental terrorism, the spill was a heated political move that had implications for the larger Gulf War and temporarily damaged Kuwait and Saudi Arabia coastlines.
Linden and Husain in 2002, as well as Issa and Vempatti in 2018, reported that the oil had largely lost its toxicity by the time it reached shore; however, the oil coated vegetation and blocked light and air, damaging it.Both groups of researchers also found that the spill caused the death of many seabirds, including almost 30,000 grebes and cormorants, by coating the birds’ feathers.
Linden and Husain found that marine turtles were relatively unaffected by the spill, except the Hawksbill sea turtle had a lower hatching rate that could have been caused by the 1991 spill.
Source: Wikipedia