Date: 06 June 2006
Poll No.155

On the occasion of the World's Environment Day

Prepared by: Dr. Nabil Kukali Director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, Beit Sahour Associate Professor at the Hebron University, Palestine

Introduction:

The researcher has the pleasure to introduce the final results of the poll conducted on the issue:" The Environmental Condition in the Territories of the Palestinian Authority "during the period from January (10 – 18), 2006. For this survey a random sample of (1276) adult Palestinians, 18 years onwards, has been interviewed, representing the whole spectrum of the demographic specimens of people living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip. The target of this poll is to investigate and determine the environmental interests and priorities as seen by the Palestinian public, to evaluate the development of the people's awareness and understanding of the environmental realities.

In this context, it should be pointed out that the challenges encountered by the Palestinian people throughout the era of occupation and the destruction of the Palestinian environment arising there from do not exempt anybody from his obligation to preserve the sources and resources, to publicize the environmental culture among the Palestinians, to raise their awareness in this field and to induce and reactivate researches on environment protection. It's the right of every citizen to live in a sound environment, to breath fresh air, to drink good water, to eat healthy food and to enjoy God's creation on earth, displayed in form of plants and animals, and in the beauty of the landscape, mountains, valleys and plains.

The researcher trusts that the information provided by this poll will benefit all people interested in the environmental issues, including –but not limited to – the planners, decision-makers and researchers in order to set a real starting point in the future of Palestine for preserving the country's environmental and natural resources and determining the appropriate environmental policies.

The Objective of the Study:

The objective of this survey study is to examine the inclinations, affinities and notions of the Palestinian public on the following issues:

1. Evaluation of the present condition of the environment compared with that ten years ago.
2. To be aware of the problems of the environment in the territories of the Palestinian Authority.
3. Evaluation of the performance of the Palestinian institutions working in the environmental field.
4. To be acquainted with the favorite means of the Palestinians to obtain environmental information.
5. Assessment of the Palestinians' interest in participating in activities focusing on the enhancement of the environmental awareness in the areas of their residences.

Importance of the Study:

It is remarkable that the environmental issues are increasingly gaining the interest of almost all countries in the world, due to the aggravated dangers of the pollution in all its manifold forms on the one side, and the immense speed at which the natural resources are exhausted on the other side. The issue "environment" became therefore one of the fundamental issues in the developed countries. In the countries of the so-called "third world", the environmental condition is rapidly deteriorating. Real environmental protection or nature preservation remained slogans and show effects for the media in these countries. Presumably, no factual application is taking place.

In Palestine, however, is the theme "environment" one of the basic and substantial themes for the Palestinian public because of the dismal environmental condition the country is sustaining, and this condition is increasingly deteriorating. This is attributable to many reasons, the most important of which are: the political situation, the siege imposed on the Palestinian territories, the construction of the partitioning wall which confiscates along its route the most fertile agricultural land of the Palestinians, especially those pieces of land which are planted with olive, fruit, almond and other kinds of trees. ( "Al-Quds" Newspaper, dated 13.3.2006), exhaustion of the country's water resources, policy of collective punishment and the prevention of the Palestinians from cultivating and preserving their own land. Smuggling and transport of solid garbage from Israel and its burial in the Palestinian dumping grounds for garbage and waste. ground, and hindering the allocation of hygienic .( "Al-Quds" Newspaper, dated 13.3.2006).

All this exposed the Palestinian environment to serious threats, which conduced to the emergence of many critical, environmental problems. The conduction of this survey became therefore essential for examining the problems facing the Palestinian environment and for the exertion of much efforts in seeking solutions for them. This survey, so modest it is on a bulky issue like "Environment", could contribute a lot to achieve the anticipated target and take its place among other scientific studies.

Methodology of the Survey Study:

1. The Questionnaire:

The questionnaire is designed by the magazine:"Environment and Development" with the participation of the United Nations Program for Environment and the Technical Secretariat of the Arab Council of the Ministers of Environmental Affairs and is modified by the researcher himself, who also added some questions thereto so that the whole concept of the questionnaire suits the Palestinian requirements. A pilot study has been carried out on a sample of (20) respondents. To make sure that any possible misunderstandings of the wording of the questions by the respondents are excluded, all questions are free of ambiguities and conform with the normal standard of the people, we have obtained the expert opinion of two independent arbitrators, who finally attested the adequacy of the questions. The degree of validity of this questionnaire according to the Alpha equation is (0.8471), which means that the questionnaire enjoys a high degree of validity.

2. Sample choice:

For this poll, a random sample of (1276) adults, 18 years and older, are interviewed. All the interviews were carried out face-to-face inside the respondents' homes, which were randomly chosen. The choice is made out of (136) electoral centers (96 in the West Bank and 40 in Gaza Strip) in conformity with the directions and allocations of the Central Election Commission. These centers are randomly chosen by the application of the simple random sample method, and are themselves considered as starting points for the choice of the random sample in accordance with the scientific methodology experienced and applied by PCPO. The rate of the margin of error of this poll was found to be (±2.74 %) at a level of confidence of (95%). Rate of the female respondents was (47.8 %) and that of the males (52.2 %).

3. Data Analysis:

Data analysis has been carried out by computer. For recording and analysis of the research data and their arithmetical and statistical processing, the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) has been applied.

Key findings of the study were:

• (78.1%) are concerned about the condition of the environment in the Palestinian territories.
• (74.9%) believe that the air pollution is the most serious problem.
• (84.7%) consider the mismanagement of the environmental affairs as the main reason for the deterioration of the environment
• (76.7%) are ready to participate in environmental awareness Campaigns.
• (82.3%) say the TV is their favorite means to obtain environmental information.
• (37.6%) evaluate the condition of the environment in the territories of the Palestinian Authority as "bad".

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