Endangered sea turtles and coral reefs of the Gulf (page 2 of 2)

Destructive and wasteful fishing is another.

If turtles are falling prey to shrimp trawlers in Bahrain and entangling in gill nets along Qatar, then coral reefs of Oman are getting smothered by abandoned fishing gear and those in Kuwait being crushed by boat anchors carelessly dropped on them. If it is coral collection for ornamental use in Iran and coral fishes for the aquarium trade in Yemen; it is turtle eggs for consumption in Qatar and four wheel drive - vehicles on turtle nesting beaches in the UAE.

And there are more: marine pollution (oil, litter, other debris), thermal effluents, human encroachment on beaches, insufficient data information, absence of scientific expertise... the list of threats seems endless.

But perhaps, the most bemoaned is the lackadaisical enforcement of environmental laws and regulations in most states. Rarely are projects halted, or even modified, following an environmental impact assessment report. Developers, in most cases, exercise greater influence on decision makers than the environment protection authorities!

Undoubtedly, these shared species of the Gulf are gravely imperiled.

Conservation action

Some efforts are, nevertheless, being made towards marine biodiversity conservation. Such as turtle tagging to study their migration; coral reef surveys and research; fisheries bycatch reduction (Bahrain is testing a BRD - Bycatch Reduction Device); establishing artificial reefs to compensate for destroyed natural reefs and others. There are Marine Protected Areas too, e.g., Marawah and Al Yasat (UAE), Damaniyat Islands (Oman), and Dihamri (Yemen).

Delegates at the Forum felt, however, that far more needs to be done if marine biodiversity is to be protected: establish more Marine Protected Areas strengthen enforcement laws and regulations related to natural resources and, significantly, reform the environmental impact assessment process. Additional recommendations include greater stakeholder input into decision-making and improved collaboration and communication between national and regional conservation organisations.

If anything can steer these recommendations towards action, it is sustained dialogue between the region's environmental agencies, which the Marine Conservation Forum has successfully initiated.