What to do when you want to rehabilitate a country, attract investment, make money, preserve the environment and have the world’s media cover your plan as if you were helping save the Earth all at the same time?
The answer: announce an environmental plan and pay for roughly 200 journalists to come and cover it. That is just about what Libya did by launching the Green Mountain Project on September 13. This ambitious mission aims to create “the world’s first large-scale conservation and sustainable development project,” one that Libya promises will help the environment, save energy and make money from tourism — resorts, archaeological sites and other resources.
And there is nothing wrong with killing several birds with one stone. If there is one country that should optimize its moves and maximize strategies it is Libya, a country still largely confined to its insular ideology. But beyond the brochure distributed by Clownfish, the event’s PR handlers, one filled with buzz words like “sustainability” and “zero carbon emissions,” the project is as ambitious as it is full of good intentions. Indeed, even if a small part of the Green Mountain gets off the ground, Libya and the Libyans will probably be better off than before, but one felt that over the course of the trip, we should have read the small print.
Ripe for a fresh start
Three times larger than France, with about 2,000 km of a coastline as turquoise-transparent as the most pristine Greek islands and an archaeological heritage that is breathtaking (and still largely undiscovered), Libya is ripe for a fresh start. While mistakes in urban planning and development are often irreversible (how many developed countries today wish they could go back in time?), Libya is a country that is pledging to do it right. Thus on September 13, the well-rounded, Western-educated son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Seif al-Islam, unveiled the Cyrene Declaration before an audience of journalists from outlets ranging from CNN to BBC, Euronews to La Nación, The Times to The Independent, all flown in for free in a well-orchestrated PR-event to polish the image of a country desperately in need of rehabilitation. And desperate it should be: In 2006, Libya was the country with the least amount of investment in the whole world.
The Green Mountain Project aims to be a holistic approach to developing an area of about 5,500 square kilometers, along some 200 kilometers of the Mediterranean coastline. In this area, reliance on oil and gas would be diminished by replacing it with wind and solar power; archaeological sites would be duly protected and surrounded with infrastructure, making them tourist-friendly and more capable of generating revenue; local communities would learn to profit from their artifacts and traditions; microbanking would finance the participation of the local population in the economy and agriculture would be expanded and sustain the communities.
The plan would “create an estimated 65,000 jobs in ecotourism alone.” And all this is very much needed. According to the Libyan government, the total produce in Libya meets only 15% of the country’s overall demand for food, and 93% of the country is desert. Libya’s unemployment in 2004, if the CIA Fact Book is anything to go by, was officially recorded as 30%, higher than Iraq in 2005.
In his speech, Seif al-Islam told journalists that “20 years ago, this region was covered with half a million hectares of forest; now, there remains only 180,000,” while “the level of the water table has fallen from 200 meters below the surface to 600 meters below the surface in just 15 years.” Among the ruins of Cyrene, al-Islam reminded the audience that “in Roman times there was enough water to fill a cistern of one million cubic meters; the cistern is still there, but the water is gone.” So yes, we were all in agreement Libya needs this project. But how much will be realized?
Libya’s choice of partners would suggest that Seif al-Islam means what he says. Top officials from UNESCO were present at the event and are said to be on the board of directors of the governmental body recently created for the project. Environmentalists, NGOs and other worthy entities were invited to the ceremony of the Cyrene Declaration — a set of guidelines that pledges to “aim for CO2 neutrality on a regional scale,” among other very laudable, albeit unspecific, goals. The some specific goals sound very ambitious — even if we weren’t entirely sure who would build or pay for them — and include “sustainable Infrastructure — including renewable power generation, waste management and recycling facilities, closed-loop water systems and sustainable transport.”
“twenty years ago, this region was covered with half million hectares of forest; now, there remains only 180,000”
Preserving the coastline
In fact, the declaration is so vague that is raises doubts as to how binding the intentions will be. And amidst all the sound-bites and pledges of good environmental and sustainable ideas, microbanking, irrigation and solar power, the only things close to materializing so far are three, admittedly environmentally friend, hotels: Cyrene Grand Hotel, Spa Resort and Canyon Resort.
An hour before Seif al-Islam’s speech, the presentation of Stephan Behling, senior partner at Foster + Partners, the highly-regarded architectural firm working alongside the Libyan government for the project, was revealing. Helped by huge posters and exquisite small scale models of the region, he presented the hotel’s blueprint to the assembled media. Talking about the Canyon Resort, Behling said the idea was to make the resort follow the “principle of camouflage.” Embedded in the mountains, it will have a magnificent view of the Mediterranean and the canyons while being practically invisible from the sea, thus leaving the natural layout unspoiled. Using the Spanish resort of Benidorm as an example of what not to do (and apologizing to the Spanish journalists), Behling said that, unlike Benidorm, the sea view will not be interrupted by developments, which instead of being on the beach, would be built at the bottom of the nearby coastal mountains, leaving the water in clear view of those who drive by. Thus, he said, the beaches will be free of developments and, to quote the brochure, “encourage preserved coastline for all.”
In a region where public beaches are increasingly rare, this is good news. Countries like Lebanon and Bahrain, for example, despite not much coastline, have restricted access to the sea, unlike countries like Brazil, where notwithstanding the endless coast no one is allowed to own a beach. But alas, further examination shows that Behling may not apply the same sound standards elsewhere in Libya. In the same brochure produced by the organizers, a proposed resort in Libya’s Leptis Magna archaeological region boasts a “unique seafront location adjacent to Leptis Magna and a private beach,” with “dedicated access to the ancient site from the hotel as well as direct access to the beach.” So much for the “preserved coastline for all” and avoiding the legacy of Benidorm.
The major investor in the Green Mountain project is allegedly Hassan Tatanaki, the owner of Challenger, a Libyan oil drilling company. One of his relatives present at the event told Executive that the whole vision came not from Seif al-Islam, but from Tatanaki, who needed the government as a partner if the project ever hoped to see the light of day and that it was Tatanaki, not the Libyan government, who paid for the press junket. This could simply be another case of authorship jealousy and fight for recognition, but by all accounts Tatanaki and the government are close enough. According to the Washington Post, in 1992, Tatanaki hired John M. Murphy, a former House Representative who was convicted of taking bribes from FBI agents pretending to be Arab sheikhs, to promote Libya abroad. The most plausible explanation is that it is a joint venture marrying Tatanaki’s commercial edge to Gaddafi Sr.’s genuine ecological and self-sustainability concerns.
“We are a backward country — people don’t
understand that we are damaging the land, damaging the environment”
Environment is an old concern
In fact, while the Green Mountain project is rumored to have been envisioned less than two months before its launch, Gaddafi has been talking about the need for environmental protection for a long time. Seemingly more rational than his famous Green Book suggests, the Libyan leader is quoted by Andrew Cockburn in National Geographic seven years ago, having just returned from the Green Mountains, as saying “We are a backward country — people don’t understand that we are damaging the land, damaging the environment.” And it is not only Gaddafi’s words that hint at his preoccupation. Despite economic embargoes imposed upon his country and notwithstanding his socialist rhetoric, Gaddafi may have done more for his people than other oil-rich countries, while still being more environmentally friendly.
Infant mortality is half that of the world average and less than in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan and Egypt. Unlike the United States, Libya is a subscriber to the Kyoto Agreement, and only 7% of the population lives below the poverty line, compared to around 13% in the US.
Still, clearly there is a long way to go. At the very place where journalists gathered to hear about the environment, light-bulbs were kept on all day and instead of using one or two buses to shuttle people to the venues, the organizers chose to use individual vans and release more carbon dioxide into the air. As for creating jobs in a revitalized tourism industry, most of the staff at the event came from Egypt or Lebanon, signalling a lack of experienced local workforce. But Libya is honest about its lack of expertise. And if Libya really means what is says, Seif al-Islam could be its best ambassador.
An architect, he is pursuing his PhD in Governance and International Relations at the London School of Economics. Speaking fluent English, and speaking off the cuff, al-Islam can be refreshing in his sincerity and, while one can see hints of his father’s well-known bluntness, al-Islam’s personally reworded his official speech to avoid blaming foreigners for such ills as global warming and archaeological looting.
One of the common — and dim-witted — criticisms levelled at Al Gore for his recent worldwide concert for a greener earth was made by the usual do-nothings, accusing the participating singers of polluting the environment by flying to the concerts. But al-Islam accepts he does not live in la-la land. One of the lines he chose to strike out of his speech was the following: “We will work hard to provide easy access and incentives for visitors to reach here by land and sea, cutting down on carbon emissions from aviation.”
Maybe Gore should help stage the inaugural concert.
