海洋保护会议关注区域合作
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.
