Across the Middle East and North Africa, environmentalists are coming under attack like never before. Globally, 197 environmental defenders were killed in 2017, according to the UN Environment Programme, a fivefold increase from a decade ago. Debilitating droughts, worsening pollution, and soaring temperatures have contributed to severe resource scarcity in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years. With drones more or less prohibited for private use across the Middle East, environment groups say that some projects, such as tracking animal-migration patterns, are almost doomed to failure from the outset. Authorities across the Middle East also take a dim view of those who spend time in distant, sparsely populated borderlands.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 30, 2019 09:56 UTC