As the Dead Sea shrinks at an alarming pace, environmental experts from the Middle East and UK are calling on regional policymakers to take urgent action.
Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian delegates outlined a range of proposals during a three-day event at the University of Leeds.
The Dead Sea, a land-locked saline lake bordered by Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, is known for being one of the world's saltiest bodies of water.
Since the mid-1970s, the level of the Dead Sea has dropped by more than 40 metres. A new landscape, dotted with thousands of sinkholes, has emerged along its shores. Dams and diversions upstream mean the lake receives less than 10% of its historic inflow.
The event explored innovative, cross-border solutions for mitigating the continuing drop in water level and encouraging rehabilitation of the lake and its chief tributary, the Jordan River.
Saving it is not an issue that one country can deal with alone.
Nir Arielli, Professor of International History at the University of Leeds, who has extensively researched the Dead Sea, said: "The Dead Sea is a shared lake. Saving it is not an issue that one country can deal with alone.
"We are calling for urgent action and discussed a range of measures for bringing water back to the Dead Sea such as treated wastewater, increasing the flow of river water into the lake and stronger regulation of the mineral extraction industry.
"We recognise that these measures are not easily achievable and are expensive, but we shouldn't look at the Dead Sea only as an economic resource. It is a natural wonder – there is nothing like it anywhere in the world.
"It is also a site of global heritage that has symbolic importance to Christians, Jews and Muslims. In the future, we could see millions of people visiting the Dead Sea. The region's geology as well as its religious and historical sites are extraordinary."
Professor Arielli this year published a book, The Dead Sea: A 10,000 Year History, which highlights the history and significance of the lake in religion, trade, warfare and science.
Guests at the conference included Leeds Central and Headingley MP Alex Sobel.
Tamar Zandberg, Head of the National Institute for Climate and Environmental Policy at Ben Gurion University and former Minister of Environmental Protection in Israel, said that in difficult times for the region, the environment and climate change remain shared challenges that transcend borders and conflicts.
"The Dead Sea is a powerful symbol of this interdependence: environmental, political, and human. Saving it will require not only technical solutions but also bold regional cooperation. This workshop proved that such cooperation is possible – and essential," she said.
Dr Tareq Abu Hamed, Executive Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, said that meeting with Palestinian and Jordanian colleagues to explore ways to stabilise the Dead Sea proved that science diplomacy can build understanding and trust between the people of the region.
Dr Clive Lipchin, Director of the Arava Institute's Centre for Transboundary Water Management, and co-organiser of the event, said that despite the region's complex and difficult geopolitical reality, Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians are destined to live together and only through collaboration can the region's environmental problems be solved.
The event was supported by funding from the Wohl Clean Growth Alliance, an initiative funded by the Wohl Legacy and managed by the British Council.
