Swimming in Lebanon: 22 locations granted 'green light,' 6 with 'yellow flags'

The National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon (CNRS-L) announced the results of the "Environmental Monitoring of the Lebanese Coast for 2023" report, pointing out that 37 reference points were analyzed along the Lebanese coast from the northernmost point in Akkar to the southernmost point in Naqoura. 

Conducted by the National Center for Marine Sciences (NCMS), the samples are taken from specific sites throughout the year according to the methodology recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme for the Programme for the Assessment and Control of Marine Pollution in the Mediterranean (MED POL). 

Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon (CNRS-L), Tamara El Zein, said, "What is new this year is a display of marine litter surveys." She said: "Some of the quantities that were monitored are frightening, especially in terms of the dominance of plastic components in them." 

She mentioned that according to the French Ministry of Ecological Transition, the amount of plastic in the ocean globally is estimated to be between 75 and 199 million tons (which is 85 percent of marine litter). 

She continued that a survey of 100 meters of a public beach during spring had 23,290 pieces weighing 54 kilograms, including 31 kilograms of plastic.  

"Unfortunately, the waste scattered on the beaches is also directly related to individual and collective behavior for those who go to the sea," she said. 

The director of the NCMS, Dr. Milad Fakhri, then presented the annual report on the environmental reality of the Lebanese coast. 

In the report, and based on bacterial tests to examine the safety of the water along the coast, it was found that 22 out of 37 sites are good and safe to swim in, including: 

Tripoli (next to the municipal stadium); Anfeh (below Deir Al Natour); Anfeh (Tahet el Rih); El Heri (private beach); Selaata (public beach); Batroun (Al Bahsa public beach); Amchit (public beach); Jbeil (sandy beach); Jbeil (Bahsa public beach); Batroun (Al Hama); Al Fidar (below the Fidar Bridge); Okaibe (Ibrahim River estuary); Bouar (public beach); Jounieh (Maameltein beach), Damour (private beach); Jiyeh (private beach); Al Awali (the beach north of the Awali River estuary); Safra; Naqoura (north of Naqoura Port); Tyre (Coast Nature Reserve); Rmeileh (private beach); and Aadloun (Private Beach). 

Meanwhile, six out of 37 sites are considered polluted to very polluted and are not safe for swimming as it is contaminated with large quantities of bacteria, including: 

Jounieh (public sandy beach); Tripoli (public beach); Dbayeh (near the Port); Beirut (Ramlet Al Bayda public beach); Antelias (Antelias River estuary); Beirut (Al Manara).