Arab Environment Watch : UAE Marine Conservation Forum

The first EWS-WWF Marine Conservation Forum took place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on September 11-14, 2006.

The Forum provided an opportunity for the region’s environmentalists to share concerns about the region’s coral reef and marine turtle populations and collaborate on potential solutions. Representatives from Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen were present at the Forum.

There is an urgent need for multi-lateral cooperation and regional agreements to permit survival of marine turtles and coral reefs; and this is what the Marine Conservation Forum addressed for the Gulf region.

It brought together specialists, biologists, government officials, conservationists and NGOs from the Gulf countries and abroad to conceptualise and debate regional marine research and conservation.

The value and importance of regional cooperation was emphasized, recommendations made and strategies chalked out.

Over 2 full days, participants presented the status of marine turtles and coral reefs in their respective countries and, on the following 2 days, facilitated working groups agreed on common threats and possible solutions.

On the whole, the Marine Conservation Forum covered environmental, economic and social aspects of the region and explored sustainable solutions for regional marine conservation.

The proceedings of the Forum are under compilation and are expected to be completed by the year-end. Each participant and country government represented will receive copies in the hope of future, sustained collaboration.

All the forum documents can be downloaded from the WWF website