JEDDAH, 3 December 2004 — Environmentalists and marine biologists from Germany, Egypt and Saudi Arabia will be key speakers at a two-day forum on Dec. 4 and 5 on the preservation and sustainable development of unique environment of the Red Sea.
Organized by both the Saudi German Business Group of Jeddah and the Jeddah International Marine Club, the forum marks the start of and their support of the Prince Abdulmajeed ibn Abdul Aziz Campaign for the Protection of the Marine Environment. For the first time in Saudi Arabia, the forum includes a one day boat trip to experience at first hand some of the best but severely threatened reefs in the Red Sea off Jeddah.
Dr. Mohammed M. Aljuhani, Chairman of the Jeddah International Marine Club, together with Dr. Stephan Keller, the German consul general in Jeddah, will open the forum. The Marine Club of Jeddah is entrusted with launching the campaign, which aims at raising public awareness of the steadily increasing threats commercial and urban development represent to the Red Sea.
“The marine environment, especially one as fragile as the Red Sea, should be of concern to all of us,” said Dr. Keller. “It touches all our lives in one way or another, from being a source of food through to leisure activities. Prince Abdulmajeed ibn Abdul Aziz’s campaign is recognition of this and we are delighted to contribute to its success.”
The forum will touch on aspects of the Red Sea environment from the regional considerations of international cooperation through the importance of reefs to the marine ecosystem and their potential for exploitation through sensitive environmental management, to the practical aspects of environmentally sensitive scuba diving practice.
Delegates to the forum hail from industry, academia and tourism and represent a wide range of professional environmental concerns.
With the continuing development of industry along the Red Sea coast and the burgeoning population, the impact of industrial and domestic waste through disposal in the sea is becoming increasingly acute.
One of the sponsors of the forum, Tetra Pak Saudi Arabia, is a world leader in setting the standard in sustainable development and environmentally friendly industrial practices. “Care for the environment and sustainable development are two of Tetra Pak’s core values,” said Amar Zahid, managing director, “And we welcome the opportunity to help raise public awareness of the need to conserve the national treasure represented by the reefs and marine environment off the Saudi Red Sea coast.”
The forum is also sponsored by 2Gather, an event consultancy based in Jeddah and Tarek Taher, a keen environmentalist and diver, chairman of Taher Group.
“It is a fragile and subtly interconnected ecosystem,” said Hagen Schmid, an environmentalist and underwater photographer who has published several popular books of photographs on Red Sea wild life and will be a key presenter at the event.
“Underlying and supporting the whole ecosystem are the living coral polyps that build the reefs. Without these, the whole marine ecosystem would collapse. The tiny coral polyp — the reef builder — is very sensitive to even slight changes in its environment. It is vital that the public, the authorities and industry is made aware of this and the knock on effects of damaging or killing them off.”
