Background The rural environment of the palestinian territories suffers from considerable strains. The two main causes of environmental degradation are rapid population growth and poor water management. Depletion of water resources and deteriorating water quality are priority issues that have already received some attention from national authorities. Unless management of key rural environmental issues is improved, sustainable development will be seriously compromised. Objectives The overall objective of this project is to reverse and prevent further deterioration of the Palestinian rural environment. The project’s purpose is to establish an international centre for rural environmental protection and to develop a rural environmental action plan and information system. The project aims to achieve the following five results: 1. Establishment of an international centre for rural environmental protection; 2. Development of a sustainable plan for the generation of rural energy; 3. Development of regulations and guidelines for stone quarrying; 4. Development of a rural environmental information system; and 5. Dissemination of project results to the wider Middle East region. Results The project established the International Centre for Rural Environmental Protection in Hebron, with a satellite office in Gaza City. The Centre houses the information system created by the project, which contains GIS maps of rural areas and information on: population; land use; economic activities; public services; infrastructure; protected areas; soil type; ground water wells; rainfall distribution; wastewater; energy in rural areas; and stone quarrying areas. After assessing the current practices regarding rural energy generation, the project developed an action plan for the generation of rural energy and prepared a schedule for, and estimated costs of, implementing the actions proposed. The project also developed regulations and guidelines for stone quarrying, and initiated the first stages of their implementation. Through workshops on project progress, the project involved various stakeholders and incorporated their feedback in the project outputs. The project also disseminated the project results through a conference, a project website, and a video. They also published and distributed the project outputs and a project poster/calendar.