Industrial waste being dumped into the sea and marine construction are two major threats to species native to Bahrain, according to the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-3) report.

It states a variety of animal and plant species that used to thrive here naturally have already been lost.

However, it adds that Bahrain's shrimp stocks are also under threat from industrial effluent being pumped into the sea, while the dugong population has been hit by marine construction that has destroyed most of the sea grass beds on which they feed.

The country has also witnessed the degradation of its date palms and natural water springs due to decades of groundwater extraction, adds the report.

However, it also highlights steps taken to protect the country's biodiversity including a breeding programme for the highly endangered marsh frog, which disappeared as the country's freshwater springs became degraded, and a recovery programme for the rare Arabian sand gazelle at Al Areen Wildlife Park and Reserve.

Municipalities and Agriculture Minister Dr Juma Ahmed Al Ka'abi yesterday pledged that Bahrain was taking steps to protect its environment and biodiversity, having ratified the Convention on Biodiversity, drawing up a national environment strategy and designating protected areas.

'Bahrain is keen to protect biodiversity, but many measures need to be taken,' he said on the sidelines of the report launch.-TradeArabia News Service