2.1 Reclamation of the Bay at the north entrance of Tyre
In 1987, a large part of the northern (Sidonian) harbor was filled in to permit the construction of port-related buildings such as Customs, parking, etc. In 1998, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Works started to fill in part of the bay of Tyre in order to enlarge the entrance to the city. An area of 50 meters wide was filled in from the sea even though the government had at its disposal some 20 meters of empty land on the side opposite the sea that they could have used immediately and thereby preserved that magnificent bay famous throughout history for its beauty. Unfortunately tons of landfill were poured into this area without regard for the under-water archaeological potential, the environment or for history.
On 10th June 1998, the former President of our Association, Mr. Jean Leclant, referred the Lebanese Minister of Culture and the Minister of Public Works to the motion submitted by AIST on 4th June 1998 to UNESCO during the meeting of the General Assembly requesting "with respect and with immediate effect, the Lebanese Government should, for conservation purposes, stop all the reclamation work before any irreparable damage is inflicted on this historic and extremely valuable site." It is fair to say that the Minister of the Environment of the time pleaded strongly in favor of the preservation of these natural sites, and the Lebanese press denounced the project many times but to no avail.
After AIST's intervention, the Director General of UNESCO, extremely concerned about the situation in Tyre, reminded the Lebanese authorities of their obligations, as co-signatories of International Conventions relative to the protection of cultural patrimony and of their undertaking within the framework of the international campaign to protect Tyre.
In addition, he instructed the Director of the Division of cultural heritage and the Director of the Center for World Heritage to write letters to the Lebanese Minister of Public Works asking him to postpone all works that would modify the character of the site of Tyre and the surrounding area, reminding him of the arrangements adopted by the Bureau of World Heritage during its 22nd session (22nd-27th July 1998).
As to the in-fill of the bay at the north entrance of Tyre, Mr. Drocourt, the UNESCO expert, advised in the conclusion of his report:
Landfill poured above the archaeological under-water area.
Construction of fishermen center at the bay - Tyre.
2.2 The Southern Egyptian Port
At the last meeting of the Center for World Heritage, doubts were raised about the guidelines set out for Tyre, already approved by ministerial decree. The Center has asked the Lebanese authorities to take into consideration the recommendations of the Franco Lebanese Program CEDRE concerning the protection of Tyre under-water heritage. A geo-archeological research mission has made a study of the Geomorphology of the coast and the under-water archaeology of the harbors of Tyre.
The three-volume report that was produced following 181 under-water dives offers a rescue plan for the archeological coastline of Tyre, as well as the natural habitat. The specialists concluded that it is necessary to create a specific protection zone and that the central urban plan must be modified:
Tyre's Southern harbour
ICOMOS unanimously supports the conclusions of the report and urges the Lebanese authorities to put these recommendations into place quickly with two objectives in mind: to increase our knowledge of this important site and to stretch the limits of this World Heritage site by adding the underwater patrimony of Tyre to it.
Drowned urban structures.
Drowned quarries at 3 m below Meditteranean Sea Level.