UN to transform Gaza Valley from sewage dump to nature reserve

Palestinians visit Gaza Valley during a trip organised by the United Nations in central Gaza Strip Feb 6 (Reuters) 

GAZA, FEB 7 REUTERS - The United Nations is set to begin next month the restoration of a historic valley in the Palestinian Gaza Strip , hoping to transform it from a landfill and sewage dump into a nature reserve in a planned $66 million project, Reuters reported Monday.

Stretching 105 km from the Israeli Negev desert up to Hebron in Israeli-occupied West Bank and for 9 km across the Gaza Strip to the Mediterranean sea, Gaza Valley is one of the largest wetland areas in the territory.

“It is a full project to develop this site and to turn it from an unhealthy wastewater dump into a place people of Gaza can visit and into a tourist site,” a UNDP project coordinator said.

Despite the Palestinians proclaiming the valley a nature reserve it has become badly polluted with rubbish piling up and the stench of sewage flowing through it.