Palm Islands Nature Reserve
Encyclopedia
The Palm Islands Nature Reserve consists of three flat, rocky islands of eroded limestone and the surrounding sea area, located 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) offshore and northwest of Tripoli
, Lebanon
.
The overall area of the reserve is 4.2 square kilometres (1.6 sq mi), it has been designated as a Mediterranean Specially Protected Area under the 1995 Barcelona Convention
. The islands were also identified as a Ramsar
Wetland of Special International Importance in 1980, and have been identified as an Important Bird Area
by BirdLife International
. The islands are a haven for endangered loggerhead turtles (Chelona mydas), rare monk seals and a resting and nesting grounds for migratory birds.
Palm Island is characterized by its flat terrain and has no obvious reliefs
, it covers an area of 180796 square metres (1,946,071.9 sq ft). The island's highest point is at 6 metres (19.7 ft) above sea level
. It's rocky shoreline extends from the northwest to south while its sandy beaches lay at the northern and eastern faces. The middle of the island is earthen, it contains evidence of past periods of human occupation such as a fresh water well
, an old Salt evaporation pond
and the remains of a Crusader
church. The island underwent rehabilitation works which included restoration of the well, its water is used to irrigate the island's 570 palm trees. The authorities also constructed a boat dock and walking trails and demarcated the island's areas of recreation and research.
Sanani Island ( Jazeerat as-Sanani) covers an area of 45503 square metres (489,790.2 sq ft) south east of Palm Island. It is mainly rocky with a partially sandy shore.
Ramkine Island ( Jazeerat Ramkine) also known as Fanar Island ( Jazeerat al-Fanar) is the smallest of the islands with an area of 34.903 square metres (375.7 sq ft); it is located north west of Palm Island. Ramkine island is mostly rocky and rises to about 12 meters above sea level. The island contains the remains of a lighthouse
in addition to cannon
emplacements and underground galleries that were built in the early 20th century. A solar power
ed navigation light has now been installed in the tower of the old lighthouse.
The islands are public property, they were declared protected area by law on March 9 1992.
dating to the late Roman and medieval periods as well as several rock-cut cisterns. The first excavation of Palm Island was undertaken in October 1973 and revealed the foundations of several buildings dating to the Crusades in which earlier architectural elements, such as column drums and fragments of capitals had been re-used.
Among the medieval sources that make mention of the offshore isles of Tripoli is the Arab
geographer Idrisi
who visited the city during the twelfth century at the time when it was ruled by Raymond III
; Idrisi wrote:
The Crusaders built a church upon the largest island. It was there that Alice of Champagne
, the widow of Hugh I of Cyprus
came in 1224 to marry Bohemond V of Antioch. The royal wedding took place in this church which we are told by Arab chroniclers was dedicated to Thomas the Apostle. Years later the island became the scene of a bloody massacre; when the Mameluke
s entered Tripoli in 1289 the panic-stricken inhabitants fled to the port and crossed over to the island. Many took refuge in the church where they were put to death when the Mamelukes caught up with them. The island was afterwards abandoned for many years.
At present the Palm Islands are managed and monitored daily by the Tripoli City Environment Protection Committee and its team with two rangers keeping intruders at bay. The islands were first open to the public in 1999. The islands are only open to the public between July and September though they may be closed during this period if environmental work or studies are being undertaken. Local fisherman operated ferries assure the transport of visitors from the Tripoli port to the Islands.
Geomorphologically, marine and emerged aerial erosion give the limestone its typical karstic features. Open gutters can be seen, wide and open in the case of marine erosion, narrower in higher places due to aerial and marine erosion. All around the islands there are bare rocky exposures as a result of marine erosion in the form of dissolution and physical action of the waves.
During the winter diaclases and pools within the dunes fill with fresh water which remains available even in the summer.
The sandy
shore and dunes of two of the islands are of a biological origin. It is mostly constituted by the skeletons of marine foraminifera
, resulting in very light sand mixed with fragments of gastropod shells and parts of skeletons and spines of echinoderm
s. Sand dunes form the higher parts of Palm Island and are the location of evidence of human occupation.
Orthent
, is found on the rocky parts of the islands; this exceedingly shallow soil hosts ephemeral flora
that grows during the wet seasons and when fresh water accumulate in the rocky crevasses. Soils with more horizon
development are found in the western parts of Palm Island, it is mainly formed
by aeolian
and beach deposited calcareous sand.
and Hezbollah during which there was a large oil spill caused by the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese Jiyyeh power plant disturbed the fragile ecosystem of the reserve. Oil coated the islands shores killing microorganism and algae
which are crucial food source for marine life and sea turtles. Oil also spread across the surface of the water, presenting a danger to both turtles and migrating birds. Large quantities of oil, sunk down to the sea bed endangering aquatic life. A clean-up and monitoring program undertaken by the World Conservation Union mission to Lebanon aimed to minimize the damage to the Palm islands.
Tripoli, Lebanon
Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
.
The overall area of the reserve is 4.2 square kilometres (1.6 sq mi), it has been designated as a Mediterranean Specially Protected Area under the 1995 Barcelona Convention
Barcelona Convention
The 1976 Barcelona Convention for Protection against Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea is a regional convention to prevent and abate pollution from ships, aircraft and land based sources in the Mediterranean Sea. This includes, but is not limited to, dumping, run-off and discharges...
. The islands were also identified as a Ramsar
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
Wetland of Special International Importance in 1980, and have been identified as an Important Bird Area
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird Area is an area recognized as being globally important habitat for the conservation of bird populations. Currently there are about 10,000 IBAs worldwide. The program was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife International...
by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
. The islands are a haven for endangered loggerhead turtles (Chelona mydas), rare monk seals and a resting and nesting grounds for migratory birds.
The islands
The largest of the three islands is Palm Island ( Jazeerat an-Nakheel) also known as Rabbits Island ( Jazeerat al-Araneb). The name 'Araneb' (rabbits) comes from the great numbers of rabbits that were grown on the island during the time of the French mandate early in the 20th century.Palm Island is characterized by its flat terrain and has no obvious reliefs
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
, it covers an area of 180796 square metres (1,946,071.9 sq ft). The island's highest point is at 6 metres (19.7 ft) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. It's rocky shoreline extends from the northwest to south while its sandy beaches lay at the northern and eastern faces. The middle of the island is earthen, it contains evidence of past periods of human occupation such as a fresh water well
Water well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by an electric submersible pump, a trash pump, a vertical turbine pump, a handpump or a mechanical pump...
, an old Salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns or salt pans, are shallow artificial ponds designed to produce salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested...
and the remains of a Crusader
Crusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
church. The island underwent rehabilitation works which included restoration of the well, its water is used to irrigate the island's 570 palm trees. The authorities also constructed a boat dock and walking trails and demarcated the island's areas of recreation and research.
Sanani Island ( Jazeerat as-Sanani) covers an area of 45503 square metres (489,790.2 sq ft) south east of Palm Island. It is mainly rocky with a partially sandy shore.
Ramkine Island ( Jazeerat Ramkine) also known as Fanar Island ( Jazeerat al-Fanar) is the smallest of the islands with an area of 34.903 square metres (375.7 sq ft); it is located north west of Palm Island. Ramkine island is mostly rocky and rises to about 12 meters above sea level. The island contains the remains of a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
in addition to cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
emplacements and underground galleries that were built in the early 20th century. A solar power
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
ed navigation light has now been installed in the tower of the old lighthouse.
The islands are public property, they were declared protected area by law on March 9 1992.
History
The islands hosted an important settlement as attested by the presence of numerous ostracaOstracon
An ostracon is a piece of pottery , usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In archaeology, ostraca may contain scratched-in words or other forms of writing which may give clues as to the time when the piece was in use...
dating to the late Roman and medieval periods as well as several rock-cut cisterns. The first excavation of Palm Island was undertaken in October 1973 and revealed the foundations of several buildings dating to the Crusades in which earlier architectural elements, such as column drums and fragments of capitals had been re-used.
Among the medieval sources that make mention of the offshore isles of Tripoli is the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
geographer Idrisi
Muhammad al-Idrisi
Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Idrisi al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti or simply Al Idrisi was a Moroccan Muslim geographer, cartographer, Egyptologist and traveller who lived in Sicily, at the court of King Roger II. Muhammed al-Idrisi was born in Ceuta then belonging to the Almoravid Empire and died in...
who visited the city during the twelfth century at the time when it was ruled by Raymond III
Raymond III of Tripoli
Raymond III of Tripoli was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva.-Early life:...
; Idrisi wrote:
Opposite the city of Tripoli are four islands in a row. The first of them,
and nearest to the land, is the Narcissus Isle (an -Narjis) ; it is very small and
is unoccupied. Then comes the Isle of the Column (al-tantid), then Monk’s Isle
(ArRahib), and then the Isle of Ardhakun (or Udhákun).
The Crusaders built a church upon the largest island. It was there that Alice of Champagne
Alice of Champagne
Alice of Champagne was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and her third husband Henry II, Count of Champagne. Alice and her sister Philippa spent part of their life fighting for their father's homeland of Champagne, over another branch of their family...
, the widow of Hugh I of Cyprus
Hugh I of Cyprus
Hugh I of Cyprus succeeded to the throne of Cyprus on April 1, 1205 underage upon the death of his elderly father Amalric of Lusignan, King of Cyprus and Jerusalem...
came in 1224 to marry Bohemond V of Antioch. The royal wedding took place in this church which we are told by Arab chroniclers was dedicated to Thomas the Apostle. Years later the island became the scene of a bloody massacre; when the Mameluke
Mameluke
Mameluke was an American Thoroughbred race horse. Bred and raced by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, he was out of the mare, Schwester, and was sired by the 1936 Epsom Derby winner, Mahmoud who became the Leading sire in North America in 1946 and the Leading broodmare sire in North America in...
s entered Tripoli in 1289 the panic-stricken inhabitants fled to the port and crossed over to the island. Many took refuge in the church where they were put to death when the Mamelukes caught up with them. The island was afterwards abandoned for many years.
At present the Palm Islands are managed and monitored daily by the Tripoli City Environment Protection Committee and its team with two rangers keeping intruders at bay. The islands were first open to the public in 1999. The islands are only open to the public between July and September though they may be closed during this period if environmental work or studies are being undertaken. Local fisherman operated ferries assure the transport of visitors from the Tripoli port to the Islands.
Geology and pedology
There are two theories regarding the geological origins of the islands bedrock, the rocky basement of the islands is mainly horizontally bedded marine limestone, it was interpreted as Miocene deposits. However since no tectonic features are visible in the limestone to distinguish it from the Miocene limestone of the Lebanese mainland, with the lack of fossil evidence, and with its regular sedimentation, this limestone could be interpreted to be more likely from the Plio-Quaternary age.Geomorphologically, marine and emerged aerial erosion give the limestone its typical karstic features. Open gutters can be seen, wide and open in the case of marine erosion, narrower in higher places due to aerial and marine erosion. All around the islands there are bare rocky exposures as a result of marine erosion in the form of dissolution and physical action of the waves.
During the winter diaclases and pools within the dunes fill with fresh water which remains available even in the summer.
The sandy
Coral sand
Coral sand is sand of particles originating in tropical and sub-tropical marine environments from bioerosion of limestone skeletal material of marine organisms. One example of this process is that of parrot fishes which bite off pieces of coral, digest the living tissue, and excrete the inorganic...
shore and dunes of two of the islands are of a biological origin. It is mostly constituted by the skeletons of marine foraminifera
Foraminifera
The Foraminifera , or forams for short, are a large group of amoeboid protists which are among the commonest plankton species. They have reticulating pseudopods, fine strands of cytoplasm that branch and merge to form a dynamic net...
, resulting in very light sand mixed with fragments of gastropod shells and parts of skeletons and spines of echinoderm
Echinoderm
Echinoderms are a phylum of marine animals. Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone....
s. Sand dunes form the higher parts of Palm Island and are the location of evidence of human occupation.
Orthent
Orthent
In USDA soil taxonomy, Orthents are defined as Entisols that lack horizon development due to either steep slopes or parent materials that contain no permanent weatherable minerals . Typically, Orthents are exceedingly shallow soils. They are often referred to as "skeletal soils" or, in the FAO soil...
, is found on the rocky parts of the islands; this exceedingly shallow soil hosts ephemeral flora
Ephemeral Plant
An ephemeral plant is one marked by short life cycles, usually six to eight weeks. The word ephemeral means transitory or quickly fading. In regards to plants, it refers to several distinct growth strategies...
that grows during the wet seasons and when fresh water accumulate in the rocky crevasses. Soils with more horizon
Soil horizon
A soil horizon is a specific layer in the land area that is parallel to the soil surface and possesses physical characteristics which differ from the layers above and beneath. Horizon formation is a function of a range of geological, chemical, and biological processes and occurs over long time...
development are found in the western parts of Palm Island, it is mainly formed
Pedogenesis
Pedogenesis is the science and study of the processes that lead to the formation of soil ' and first explored by the Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev , the so called grandfather of soil science, who determined that soil formed over time as a consequence of...
by aeolian
Aeolian
Aeolian or Eolian may refer to:* things related to Aeolus, the Greek God of wind or the patriarch of Greeks of Aeolia* Aeolian harp, a harp that is played by the wind* Aeolian processes, wind generated geologic processes...
and beach deposited calcareous sand.
Threats
The 2006 war between IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Hezbollah during which there was a large oil spill caused by the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese Jiyyeh power plant disturbed the fragile ecosystem of the reserve. Oil coated the islands shores killing microorganism and algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
which are crucial food source for marine life and sea turtles. Oil also spread across the surface of the water, presenting a danger to both turtles and migrating birds. Large quantities of oil, sunk down to the sea bed endangering aquatic life. A clean-up and monitoring program undertaken by the World Conservation Union mission to Lebanon aimed to minimize the damage to the Palm islands.