Post-conflict ecological restoration
During the Gulf War from August 1990 to March 1991, the countries in the region, notably Kuwait, suffered substantial environment damage. After many years of assessment and litigation, the UN Compensation Commission (UNCC) awarded Kuwait with roughly $3 billion in claims to cover a range of environmental damages such as oil lakes, ground water, and terrestrial areas requiring re‑vegetation, coastal areas and others. The focus of these claims is on restoring functioning ecosystems in the country.
UNCC Decision 258, under which the claims are to be administered, includes establishment of a set of Independent Reviewers (IRs) "responsible for evaluating projects according to the technical and financial guidelines and reporting their findings to the UNCC." The Kuwait IR team consists of ecological, project management and financial experts. Francis Vorhies serves as the IR coordinator and Andrew Price is an IR for marine ecosystems.
It is hoped that the work undertaken to restore Kuwait's ecosystems will not only benefit the country, but will also provide much needed insights for others on the design and implementation of large scale ecological restoration schemes.
More information is available on the websites of the UNCC and the Kuwait National Focal Point:
 www2.unog.ch/uncc
www.kuwaitnfp.comEarthmind also maintains a password-protected worksite for the IRs at: earthmind.net/irc. |