Qatar is one of the countries most concerned with environment affairs and the first to enact legislation that furthers the efforts to conserve and protect the environment. Qatar?s environmental attention reached its apex with the establishment of the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural sanctuaries. All public and private establishments in the country as well as the individuals rally their efforts to further the environmental conservation objectives in the country. This is why a specialized chamber to hear and decide on the crimes against natural resources of water and the environment was set up in April 2002 following a decision from the president of the courts of justice.
The Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Sanctuaries
Presided over by His Highness the Heir Apparent, the Council has a legal entity with an independent budget that is set under the State?s general budget. It undertakes all environment protection responsibilities including the augmentation and protection of the endangered wildlife and its natural habitat; formulation of the general policies aiming to protect the environment and realize sustainable development; drawing up work plans to implement such policies; monitoring the current environment and wildlife-related protective measures and practices; preparing the necessary drafts of legislation, regulations and decisions on the protection of the environment and establishing national environmental data base, alongside with other environment protection-related functions.
The council is formed of a deputy president, a number of experienced and environment enthusiast members and a secretary-general. It may, in cases of failure to comply with the environment protection stipulations, demand the withdrawal of the consent to operate granted in respect of the non-complying works, facilities and activities. This applies to all the ministries, government agencies, public institutions and corporations and all the concerned parties in the country.
The officers of the supreme council for environment and natural reserves, who are deputized by a decision from the chairman of the council based on a nomination by the Secretary General, serve in the capacity of juridical capture commissioners in holding and evidencing the crimes that may violate the provisions of the council and their executing decisions.
The Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Sanctuaries organizes nation-wide functions to control the desertification problem as Qatar lies in the arid region, where rainfall does not exceed 200 mm per year. The council is also seeking to preserve all land, marine and atmospheric environments. This is why it had launched a campaign to destroy the farms that did not abide by environmental and health rules and set up many compounds with sound health and environmental conditions.
The council prohibits trading in or dealing with all elements of the endangered wildlife, either dead or alive. Hunting of wild birds and animals is also strictly prohibited within the boundaries of natural sanctuaries, islands, cities and villages.
In order to preserve the resources of wildlife the council started on May 1, 2002 to enforce the wildlife hunting law, which organizes wildlife hunting and designates the times and places where hunting is ultimately prohibited, as well as the techniques of hunting and the penalties for violations.
The law, which is enforced in collaboration with the concerned departments at the ministry of interior, coast guard and land guards, allows wildlife hunting during the season from September 15 to the beginning of May each year, after which hunting is prohibited.
Hunters are under the obligation not to damage gardens, farms and plant cover; not to use explosives and not to interfere or tamper with the life of wild birds, marine turtles, baby animals, wild eggs and nests by damaging, moving or selling them or taking possession thereof,. Such practices are only permitted for scientific research purposes. Even then, a special pre-arranged approval should be secured from the council.
Qatar does not allow hazardous waste materials to enter the country, as it does not have the necessary facilities to deal with them. However, sending these materials abroad is allowed within the restrictions outlined by the provisions of Basel convention, which Qatar has signed on August 9, 1995. No waste materials should be buried in any Qatari territory without the approval of the Supreme Council for the Environment and Natural Sanctuaries. Efforts are underway to arrange the storage of hazardous industrial waste materials on the sites of treatment starting from 2003.
This piece is taken from the website of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
See on-line at: http://english.mofa.gov.qa/details.cfm?id=116
Muslim Environment Watch 