IUCN, Regional Office for West, Central Asia and North Africa

This 8-minute video film promotes new prospects for innovative funding of water projects that can be of benefit to the water critical crisis in the region. According to the video, the Middle East and North Africa region is the most arid in the world and water resources are consequently very sparse. Of the total area of 14 million km², more than 87 % is desert.

On the 13th and 15th of July 2006, Israel bombed the Jiyyeh power plant. The war on natural resources and people's livelihoods began... The Documentary covers the complicated process that the different national and international parties faced while dealing with the environmental catastrophe. It also exposes the suffering of fishermen who are already struggling to make a living in a complex political and economic environment.

The Hima is a traditional system of resource tenure that has been practised for more than 1400 years in the Arabian Peninsula. It is the most widespread and longstanding indigenous/traditional conservation institution in the Middle East, and perhaps on Earth! The Arabic word “hima” literally means “a protected area”. In pre-Islamic times, access to this place was declared forbidden by the individual or group who owned it.