Bahrain: Bahrain Environment Profile

Bahrain is a small country of 1.2 million people composed of an archipelago in the Persian Gulf east of Saudi Arabia.

Its major environmental issues include:

desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, periods of drought, and dust storms;
coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, and distribution stations; and,
lack of freshwater resources (groundwater and seawater are the only sources for all water needs).

Bahrain is susceptible to periodic droughts and dust storms.

Bahrain is close to primary Middle Eastern petroleum sources with a strategic location in the Persian Gulf, through which much of the Western world\'s petroleum must transit to reach open ocean

In 1783, the Sunni Al-Khalifa family captured Bahrain from the Persians. In order to fasten these holdings, it entered into a series of treaties with the United Kingdom during the 19th century that made Bahrain a British protectorate.

The archipelago attained its independence in 1971. Facing declining oil reserves, Bahrain has turned to petroleum processing and refining and has transformed itself into an international banking center.

Since achieving independence in 1971, Bahrain has pursued a policy of close consultation with neighboring states. Bahrain became a member of the United Nations and the Arab League in 1971. In 1981 it joined its five neighbors -- Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, the U.A.E., and Qatar--to form the strategic Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Bahrain has complied with GCC efforts to coordinate economic development and defense and security planning. In December 1994, for example, Bahrain concurred with the GCC decision to drop secondary and tertiary boycotts against Israel. Bahrain as well responded positively to Kuwait\'s request to deploy the GCC collective defense Peninsula Shield Force during the buildup and execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in 2003.

Bahrain\'s small size and central location part Persian Gulf nations require it to play a delicate balancing act in foreign affairs part its larger neighbors. In addition, the Sunni-led government has struggled to manage relations with its approximately 70% Shia-majority people.

During the mid-to-late 1990s, Shia activists mounted a low-intensity uprising to request that the Sunni-led government stop systemic economic, social, and political discrimination against Shia Bahrainis.

King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, next succeeding his late father in 1999, pushed economic and political reforms in part to improve relations with the Shia community.

Next boycotting the country\'s initial round of democratic elections under the newly-promulgated constitution in 2002, Shia political societies participated in 2006 and 2010 in legislative and municipal elections and Wifaq, the major Shia political society, won the major bloc of seats in the elected lower-home of the legislature both times. Nevertheless, Shia discontent persisted, often manifesting itself in street demonstrations and occasional low-level violence. (see History below for recent developments)

Geography

Location: Middle East, archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia

Geographic Coordinates: 26 00 N, 50 33 E

Area: 760 sq km (land: 760 sq km; water: 0 sq km)

Coastline: 161 km

Maritime Claims:

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: extending to boundaries to be determined

Natural Hazards: periodic droughts; dust storms

Terrain: mostly low desert plain rising gently to low central escarpment. The highest point is Jabal ad (Dukhan 122 m) and the lowest point is the Persian Gulf (0 m).

Climate: arid; mild, pleasant winters; very hot, humid summers.

Ecology and Biodiversity

Ecologically, Bahrain is part of the Persian Gulf desert and semi-desert ecoregion which comprises part of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, inclunding its entire coastline along the Arabian Gulf, inclunding Bahrain island, the coastline of Qatar and a small stretch of coastline belonging to the Abu Dhabi emirate of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In the north, much of Kuwait is included. An inland finger projects south from Kuwait towards the great sand desert that dominates all of southern Arabia, the Rub\'al-Khali. The area serves as an significant stop for birds migrating from Asia to wintering spots in Africa, and over 250 species of birds have been recorded. Threats to this ecoregion include feral rodents that disrupt the bird people, oil spills, overgrazing, and wildlife poaching.

In Qatar and Bahrain terrestrial wildlife species diversity is low and there are few, if any, endemics. Most of Qatar, with its flat desert and scanty vegetation, supports only a sparse and restricted avifauna. Of 255 species recorded in the country, about 23 breed there, 78 are winter visitors and 104 are regular migrants. Bahrain was believed to be connected to the mainland of Arabia until 6,000 B.C. and its subsequent separation is cited as a reason for the low diversity of mammalian fauna.

The coastal zone with its intertidal mudflats and offshore islands is significant for breeding sea birds and other migrating species, particularly as Saudi Arabia offers a land bridge connecting Africa with Eurasia. One site at Tarut Bay is considered to be the majority significant site on the Saudi Arabian Gulf Coast for wintering and migrating waders and other water birds, with a total of c. 58,000 waterbirds in 1991/92, and additional than 20,000 present in April-May 1991. The houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata), a globally threatened species, occurs regularly in Bahrain as a passage migrant in autumn and a rare winter visitor to the open desert in the south of the island.

On Bahrain island, the Environmental Protection Committee is the government body responsible for environmental matters and protected areas for nature conservation. Al-Areen Wildlife Reserve on Bahrain island, established in 1976, was built as a sanctuary to conserve vegetation and as well functions as a wildlife captive-breeding centre.

All 1,200 kilometers (km) coastline of this ecoregion is vulnerable to major oil spills . Hill indicates that Phalacrocorax nigrogularis is one of the majority commonly found oiled dead birds around the Bahrain coastline. Overgrazing by camels, goats and sheep is a common threat to the area\'s vegetation. The mangroves are under pressure in some areas from overgrazing by camels. Disturbance from fisherman, recreational campers and divers, and the military is a threat along various coastal stretches and islands. However, in some areas the military has fenced off certain sites, protecting the vegetation and eliminating grazing pressure. Feral mice are reported to be a threat, particularly at the same time as their people peaks coincide with the tern breeding season on Saudi Arabia\'s Gulf Coral Islands. Land reclamation and dredging poses a threat to various sites on Bahrain island.