19 Sep
2006 - Abu Dhabi, UAE — Region-wide cooperation
for the conservation of endangered marine turtles
and coral reefs in the Arabian Gulf were the focus
of this year’s first-ever Marine Conservation
Forum.
More than 80 environmental experts
and government officials from the region agreed
on a number of actions to improve the Gulf’s unique
marine environment, including the need to establish
more marine protected areas, as well as strengthening
enforcement laws and regulations related to natural
resources.
“Marine turtles and coral reefs
play important ecological, economic, recreational
and cultural roles in the Gulf region. However,
uncontrolled coastal development, destruction
and alteration of turtle habitats, as well as
poaching, illegal trade and pollution are having
an adverse impact on the marine ecosystem,” said
Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, Director of WWF’s office
in the United Arab Emirates.
“It is crucial that regional
information exchange and monitoring of marine
turtles and coral reefs are undertaken to better
understand the current situation, and more importantly,
be used as a starting point for joint conservation
efforts.”
Citing unplanned development
as one of the major concerns affecting the environment,
participants attending the forum emphasized a
need to work with the private sector to address
the situation.
“It is in the interest of investors
to also invest in the environment, especially
as it is the very attractiveness of the area that
brings tourism and business to the country,” said
Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF’s Global Species
Programme and the Forum’s lead facilitator.
In addition to each participating
country committing to review its local conservation
efforts, the forum also called for a significant
reform of environmental impact assessments, strengthening
the role of national environmental laws and environmental
protection agencies, and more stakeholder input
into the decision-making process, including the
involvement of fishermen, environmental NGOs and
others. The establishment of an environmental
council at provincial and national levels to tackle
marine environmental issues was also proposed.
Among the other recommendations
made at the forum were the improvement of collaboration
and communication between national and regional
conservation organizations. This is to include
public outreach, media education, building awareness
among the public and business sectors and the
creation of teams to revise existing environmental
laws to make them more effective and participatory.
“I am hopeful that this forum
has provided a first step in opening a dialogue
between all stakeholders involved in marine conservation
efforts in the region,” Dr Lieberman added.
END NOTES:
• Of the seven species of marine
turtle, the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)
and the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) regularly
occur in the waters of the Arabian Sea. Occasionally,
the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) and the
olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) can
also be spotted. Worldwide, the green, loggerhead
and olive ridley turtles are listed as "Endangered",
and the hawksbill as "Critically Endangered".
At the local and regional levels the number of
foraging habitats and nesting grounds of these
species are continually declining.
• The health of coral systems
has progressively declined in the Gulf. Those
off the coast of Abu Dhabi, UAE, display clear
signs of resilience to frequent, unusually severe
temperature fluctuations that, in recent years,
caused mass mortality of corals at several locations
around the world. Although they suffered damage,
the Gulf corals by and large survived these thermal
anomalies and today show active signs of regeneration.
However, there are many other cases throughout
the Gulf where the reefs are yet to recover from
these environmental stresses. WWF UAE is working
on a bi-national (UAE and Qatar) project on investigating
coral reefs in the territorial waters of the two
countries. The project is sponsored by Dolphin
Energy.
• The Marine Conservation Forum,
held from 11–14 September 2006 under the patronage
of the UAE Ministry of Environment & Water,
was organized by the WWF UAE. First Gulf Bank
was the main sponsor of the forum. Tourism Development
& Investment Company (TDIC) and TOTAL were
the co-sponsors with Dolphin Energy as a support
sponsor of the event.
