Ziad Abu Gharara, secretary-general of the authority, said that these reserves are situated within the water frontiers of all the countries in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden region. He was speaking to reporters at the end of a workshop held at the authority’s headquarters in Jeddah.

The workshop with the theme of “Effective management of marine reserves’ was conducted in cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).  Several experts and officials from the departments of marine reserves and protected areas from all the member countries participated in the event.

The members of the authority included Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Djibouti, Jordan, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

Abu Gharara said the regional marine network encompasses all the marine reserves, important sites for biodiversity, animals and living things facing extinction, and areas that are of significance with regard to scientific, cultural and educational research, as well as marine ecological sites including coral reefs.

He noted that the workshop was aimed at giving training to participants on how to use the guide to set up and manage marine reserves. The guide was published by the authority in cooperation with the West Asia Regional Office of UNEP.