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UoB Study Team discusses
preliminary results on Hawar Islands |
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SAKHIR,
June 20 – The University of Bahrain (UoB)’s
Environmental Impact Studies Team discussed,
at a recently held meeting, the preliminary
results of their field studies that were
conducted to examine the capacity of
sustainable development in the Hawar
Islands.
The team, affiliated to the UoB’s Deanship
of Scientific Research and supported by the
Islamic Development Bank, was assigned the
task of determining the importance of the
islands, their features as well as the
impact of human activities on them. This
study is aimed at preserving the islands and
assisting in making a decision concerning
the possible sustainable development on the
islands without offending their environment.
Dr. Abdulrahman Bu Ali, the Head of the
Applied Research Unit affiliated to the
UoB’s Deanship of Scientific Research,
explained that “the aim of this meeting was
to review some of the preliminary results of
both sea and land surveys of the islands,”
and pointed out that “the team could come up
with a vision and excellent information on
the reality, to date, of the Hawar Islands.”
Dr. Jameel Al-Khuzaei, from the UoB’s
Department of Biology, began the meeting by
sharing their observation of the plant life
on the islands. They noticed that, during
the spring season, there was abundant
greenery that could be noticed in the
different wild plants.
He further explained that in their second
visit last March, they covered all the
regions of the islands and saw diverse
plants that grew after the period of heavy
rainfall and that these plants were
different from what they saw during their
first visit in December.
Dr. Al-Khuzaei displayed the photos of two
groups of plants noticed by the team, the
coastal plants and the inland plants which
included plants that grew each year after
the rainfall.
Prof. Essam Ghanim, from the Department of
Biology, then presented the preliminary
results of a study conducted on the quality
of water surrounding the Hawar Islands. He
explained that the study looked into the
microbes prevalent in the waters and
identified whether the waters were free of
microbes.
He said that they had taken samples from 25
sites around the Hawar archipelago and then
conducted a lab study on these samples to
determine the level of bacteria in them. He
added that the results were generally good
as there was no indication of colon bacteria
in certain areas and were at a reassuring
level in some other areas.
He concluded that the microbe level in its
waters makes the islands an ideal tourist
destination.
On the other hand, Dr. Mohammed Saleem
Akhtar, from UoB’s Department of Chemistry,
reviewed the chemical analyses made on 25
water samples collected from different
zones.
He said that his group measured – using
specialist techniques and equipments – the
acidity level in the samples as well as the
dissolved salts, phosphates, nitrates, and
the general concentration of some heavy and
scarce elements in them such as cadmium,
chromium, cobalt, nickel, lead, and
manganese. The group has also analyzed 25
samples of deposits and measured the
concentration of hydrocarbon combinations in
them.
Dr. Akhtar said, “the study was a
comprehensive environmental contaminants one
and can be a valuable reference for future
studies in Bahrain to help identify the
development capacity of these islands”.
From its part, the specialist archeological
team delegated from the Directorate of
Archeology and Heritage, Cultural and
National Heritage, presented the results of
the field study and survey works that
covered seven archeological zones belonging
to different historical periods, of which
the oldest goes back to the prehistoric
eras. According to the team, these sites
varied in architectural styles, between
settlements, graves and pools of waters.
In the same context, Dr. Bu Ali said: “
Hawar Islands image in our mind is that of
clean islands that have not been destroyed
by humans, but when we visited the islands
we came across places that corrupted this
image.” He added that the waste management
group looked into three topics: water
resources, waste management, and solid
waste.
Concerning sanitation, Dr. Bu Ali said:
“Unfortunately, there are no sanitation
channels, the thing that causes the creation
of an environment favorable for mosquito
breeding, and diseases. All this can be
harmful to the living creature on the
islands such as, the Arabian Oryx and
gazelles.” |
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