UN warns resorts in the Med. are at risk

THE Mediterranean region will be increasingly plagued by environmental problems and economic disparities in the next 20 years unless development is controlled, the United Nations warned yesterday. Desertification threatens the south and east, while half of its 46'000 km (28'580 mile) coastline is on track to be built up by 2025, up from 40 percent, said a report by the U.N. Environmental Programme's think tank “Plan Blue”. The region, which links more than 20 countries, is home to 7 percent of the marine plant and animal species known worldwide. It is also a magnet for tourists. “Tough decisions and trade-offs will have to be made if the Mediterranean is to preserve the natural beauty and quality of life that have made it one of the world's most attractive locations,” said Mohamed Ennabli, a former environment minister of Tunisia, who is vice-president of Blue Plan. He told a news briefing in Geneva: “The aim of the report is to highlight the fact that if we don't correct current trends, we are heading right into a wall.” There was a need to reduce the economic gap between the two shores of the Mediterranean, currently home to more than 427 million people, so as to maintain stability, Ennabli added. The report, “A Sustainable Future for the Mediterranean: the Blue Plan's Environment & Development Outlook”, forecast that the population living along the Mediterranean would increase by 96 million people by 2025, when three out of four will live in urban areas. “The demand for water will increase by some 25 percent in the next 20 years. “If we were better at managing water resources, which are currently wasted, we could recover 20 to 25 percent,” report co-author Guillaume Benoit told reporters. The region suffers from a water deficit and irrigation for farmlands already takes up 80 percent of available resources in some areas, according to the report compiled by 300 experts. Here in the Balearics relatively successful efforts have been made to secure a guaranteed water supply, albeit involving desalination plants, but attempts to slow down construction, in particular on the coast, have all but failed over recent years. What is more, as the region is currently witnessing, there is growing unrest over the current Balearic governmment's extensive road expansion and improvement scheme. A further march involving thousands of anti-road protestors from Ibiza and Majorca is due to take place in Palma this Saturday.