18 Jun
2006 - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates WWF has
helped prepare the first map of coral habitats
in the southeastern Arabian Gulf, highlighting
some of the most extensive and biologically important
coral reefs around the offshore islands and banks
of the United Arab Emirate of Abu Dhabi and Qatar's
harbour.
This large scale habitat map,
which is an outcome of the Coral Reef Investigations
in Abu Dhabi and Eastern Qatar project, will allow
resource managers to assess the quantity and quality
of marine resources under their jurisdiction.
Since January 2005, threatened
coral habitats of the Arabian Gulf have been studied
and mapped with a view to developing a comprehensive
conservation and management plan for these valuable
ecosystems. Alongside, researchers of participating
environmental organizations in the UAE and Qatar
have received training in both theoretical and
practical aspects of project work.
The project has shown that
most Gulf coral reefs are in good health,"
commented Majid Al Mansouri, Board Member of the
Emirates Wildlife Society, an associate organization
of WWF in the United Arab Emirates.
"The coral reefs that had
suffered severe damage due to past temperature
fluctuations should recover and regain their former
splendour, provided that no disturbance occurs.
With the help of this coral reef map, future protection
measures will be made much easier.
The map has been prepared using
Landsat satellite imagery. Although ground-truthing
was done at over 1,000 points for accuracy control,
it is still a preliminary map that requires fine-tuning
and approval from government agencies implementing
the project in the UAE and Qatar. This will be
taken up in the months ahead, when higher resolution
imagery will be used to map areas of special interest
in greater detail.
The production of this coral
reef map is a vital contribution to Gulf biodiversity,
said Ahmed Al Sayegh, CEO, Dolphin Energy, a company
that is implementing the Dolphin Gas Project designed
to supply natural gas from offshore Qatar to the
UAE.
"We will be transporting
natural gas within a few months. Now that we know
where the corals are located, it will be a vital
part of our environment management programme that
these be protected in every possible way, for
the benefit of future generations.
END NOTE:
Project Coral Reef Investigations
in Abu Dhabi and Eastern Qatar is sponsored by
Dolphin Energy Ltd., and managed by the Emirates
Wildlife Society in association with WWF UAE.
The implementation agencies are Environment Agency
Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Supreme Council for Environment
and Natural Reserves (SCENR). Technical advisors
to the project are National Coral Reefs Institute,
Florida, USA.
