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Construction Threatens Endangered Seal Habitat In Amchit
Ongoing construction on a developmental project in the coastal town of Amchit in Jbeil is threatening caves that are among the last remaining habitats for the Mediterranean monk seals in Lebanon.
This at-risk mammal is on The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with only approximately 450 of its kind remaining worldwide and a mere five remaining in Lebanon’s waters.
The destruction of these caves effectively kills the seals, preventing them from foraging for food. The illegal privatization of Lebanon’s shoreline has already wreaked havoc on Lebanon’s ecology and marine life, with sea turtles being one of the most noteworthy examples.
Last November, residents in the area staged a protest calling for the protection of this endangered species, but construction plans appear to be moving forward nonetheless. While there seems to be little information about who is behind the development, residents in the area speculate that it is a residential building or private villa.
Local organizations have called for another protest today.
Over the past decades and as Lebanon stumbled from one crisis to the next, beaches and coastal towns were overtaken by politically-backed investors and developers pillaged a once public shoreline.
This at-risk mammal is on The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with only approximately 450 of its kind remaining worldwide and a mere five remaining in Lebanon’s waters.
The destruction of these caves effectively kills the seals, preventing them from foraging for food. The illegal privatization of Lebanon’s shoreline has already wreaked havoc on Lebanon’s ecology and marine life, with sea turtles being one of the most noteworthy examples.
Last November, residents in the area staged a protest calling for the protection of this endangered species, but construction plans appear to be moving forward nonetheless. While there seems to be little information about who is behind the development, residents in the area speculate that it is a residential building or private villa.
Local organizations have called for another protest today.
— Green Southerners (@GreenSoutherns) June 13, 2022
Over the past decades and as Lebanon stumbled from one crisis to the next, beaches and coastal towns were overtaken by politically-backed investors and developers pillaged a once public shoreline.
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