Evidence from space will help highlight the environmental damage created by war and other manmade intrusions in the Gulf and other areas.

It will also help chart rapid changes, so that more can be done to protect the environment, said a report in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

Satellite images of key environmental sites in Bahrain will be featured in the regional initiative to show how the area has changed over the past 30 years.

Hawar Island, Tubli, Arad, the fashts (reefs) and other protected sites in Bahrain are expected to be selected for the UN-led project - Atlas of Environmental Change for West Asia.

The initiative aims to provide scientific evidence of rapid environmental changes taking place in many areas around West Asia.

It also intends to raise awareness among the general public and policymakers, while bringing local-level changes to the attention of global audiences.

The project is sponsored by United Nations Environment Programme, Abu Dhabi Environment Agency and Qatar Environment Ministry.

It will highlight environmental case studies, supported by narratives, images, ground photographs and environmental maps.

Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife geographical information head Zuhad Shehabi said many important environmental sites, such as Tubli, had changed over the decades and the commission would be recommending them for the project.

'For the atlas we are thinking of introducing how the coastal line of Bahrain has changed over time,' she told the GDN.

'There are protected areas in Bahrain but we want to add more sites. We need to protect more areas in Bahrain such as the dugong area on the east coast of Bahrain.'

Shehabi was speaking on the sidelines of the opening of the Atlas of Environmental Change: West Asia, Orientation and Planning Meeting which concludes at Awal Ballroom, Gulf Hotel today (October 14).

It is attended by more than 35 country representatives from West Asia, UNEP partner institutions in the region, as well as experts from UNEP/GRID Sioux Falls in North America.

It aims to give a general orientation to representatives of focal institutions on the vision for the Atlas of Environmental Change for West Asia, how participating institutions would contribute to the preparation process and what are the co-ordination and communication mechanisms.

Participants are discussing potential sites to be highlighted in the atlas, data sources to be used, responsibilities of the team and a plan for the way forward.

UNEP West Asia early warning and assessment division regional co-ordinator Dr Adel Abdel Kader, who is leading the atlas project, said Unep had produced a global atlas and an African atlas but this was the first of its kind to completely focus on countries in West Asia.

He said once completed the atlas would be a powerful tool because an image had more impact than words.

'If we can show environmental change using images we can communicate to the public and decision makers what is happening to our environment in West Asia,' he said.

'With each image there will be a story line and a ground photograph of that site.

'We will depend on a series of satellite images to show changes to water and land resources, peace and security and the environmental impact of conflicts in the region.

'We will look at regional seas, air pollution and give an overview of West Asia's physical changes and the progress made in the Millennium Development Goals. We will have a country profile for each country in the region.'

Dr Abdel Kader said a team would collect the oldest to the most recent images from the data available and publish them in an atlas, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

It will look at six thematic areas: wat