Palm Island. (Credit: Mohammed Yassine)
Reaching Palm Island, known to locals as jaziret al aranib (rabbit island), requires a half-hour boat ride from al-Mina in Tripoli.
Tourists take simple boats with wooden seats characterized by loud local music. Nearing the island, the water begins to change color, becoming clear and turquoise, which is rare in Lebanon.
Schools of fish swim by, if you are lucky, you may cross paths with a green turtle, a species that is now endangered. Yellow-legged gulls mingle with the boats docked on the island’s rocks.
The main island’s sand is white, and nearby are two rocky islands called Sanani (Arabic for teeth, because of the pointed shape of its rocks) and Ramkine, which are popular with anglers and divers. Together, the three islands form the Palm Islands Nature Reserve, as was declared in 1992 under Law no 121
For a long time, the area was known as Rabbit Island. “It is said that in the 19th century, a French couple let two rabbits loose on the island, and that these animals proliferated,” says Yasmine Issa, who has been in charge of managing the site for the past four years.
Upon arrival, visitors stumble off boats with all their paraphernalia and picnic gear: parasols, coolers and food. They make their way over rocks to the sandy shore.
Once settled, the change of scenery is immediate. The 417-hectare island is a combination of vegetation and stretches of fine sand. There are a few wooden structures built into the sand to shelter beachgoers from the scorching sun. People swim in the cool waters. On the Wednesday that L’Orient visited the island, there were over 300 visitors on the island, says Issa.
Crime still unsolved
On June 29, during the Adha holiday, at least 350 people came to enjoy the island which had just been reopened to the public. At around 3 p.m., a fire broke out at the top of a small bird-watching tower. “It only took a few minutes for the two stories of dry wood to burn down and collapse,” Issa said.
The fire spread at ground level, consuming all the surrounding vegetation. In the midst of the panic, beach-goers did their utmost to stop the flames from spreading. The fire lasted from 3 p.m. until after 6 p.m. and was only extinguished when army helicopters intervened in response to a call from the chairman of the reserve committee, Amer Haddad and caretaker Environment Minister Nasser Yassin.
The intelligence services opened an investigation and the reserve director filed a general complaint. “The evidence showed that the fire was an arson attack because a highly flammable material had been used to cause maximum damage,” said Haddad.
But with no CCTV and a small security team, it is difficult to determine who was responsible among the hundreds of visitors that day. “I’ve only had two people to help me since the crisis, and the island is pretty big,” says Issa.
With one of the most affordable entrance fees in the country (LL 50,000, or just over 50 cents at the market rate), the reserve committee struggles to pay the salaries of the three employees on site. “All the more so as fishermen and their families — as well as people who say they can’t afford to pay — are exempt from paying,” said Haddad.
The reserve committee’s chairman is hesitant to express suspicions that he cannot confirm. “I believe that this reserve, which is considered to be of capital importance at Mediterranean level, and which has just attracted a new management project that should create five jobs and enable us to develop the protection system,” Haddad said in reference to an initiative under the aegis of the Environment Ministry, which would be financed by regional NGOs. ], “ [It] could have earned us the animosity of those who would have designs on the site, but that's all speculation,” he continued.
Despite its status as a protected reserve, the island has often attracted turbulence in the past. “This reserve has been classified by law, and it is forbidden to build any solid structure on it,” said Haddad.
The impact of the fire on the island was disastrous. Over a large area, trees were burnt to a crisp, vegetation dried up and the land was scorched black. A freshwater well (one of the special features of the island which serves as a drinking water reservoir) was completely destroyed. Thirteen palm trees were lost along with many of the island's animal inhabitants, namely reptiles. Fortunately, the ruins of a Crusader church were spared.
Hisham al-Zein, one of the biodiversity experts dispatched by the environment ministry, explained that the areas lost are “sandy meadows unique to the island.”
“An endemic species of flower, the Echium angustifolium, has been particularly affected,” al-Zein said.
Trees were also lost, such as the Washington palm. “It’s not an endemic species, but it’s important because it gave the island its name.” According to al-Zein, the impact on wildlife, particularly gulls was limited because the nesting season was over. Asked if the losses were irreversible, al-Zein said “we’ll have to wait for the first rains to see which species can regenerate.”
Waste in abundance
Little green shoots can already be seen growing in the scorched soil, a sure sign that the island is coming back to life. Every summer season, more than 20,000 people visit the archipelago (group of islands), according to Haddad.
Rachid, a father from Zgharta who emigrated to Canada, has known the reserve by name for a long time. “But this is my first time here. It’s very pleasant, and I’ll be coming back when I’m in Lebanon.”
On another beach on the island, apparently known only to a few, a group of beachgoers prepares garbage bags to throw away their trash after a picnic. “The beauty of this place comes from the fact that it’s still untouched,” says Elise, a young woman in the group.
But not all visitors are as respectful to the environment. Haddad said the guidelines are clear: don’t light fires on the island, don’t take anything with you (plants, shells, etc.) and don’t dump waste.
Issa tirelessly repeats these instructions to the visitors she welcomes during the three summer months and distributes garbage bags to them. “There’s no real authority on the island,” she said. “The Internal Security Forces and the army say they can’t provide us with guards. And we are incapable of enforcing the law on citizens who often have little sense of civic responsibility,” she added.
Waste lays scattered across the island, particularly near the beach, despite bags being made available to visitors. “Every day, we clean up the area and take around 50 large bags of rubbish back to the port,” she said. “But for the rest of the island, there are not enough of us to keep up with the clean-up.”
Zein confirmed that plastic pollution is a major problem on the island, but believes that visitors are only one of the sources. “The most important source is pollution in the Mediterranean Sea which comes from coastal dumps,” he said.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.