JEDDAH, 30 April 2003 — The task force for the Strategic Action Program for the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden (SAP) began its sixth meeting at the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment in Jeddah yesterday.
The SAP is one of the most significant coastal and marine environmental programs ever seen in the region, and the task force consists of appointees from each member country in the program — Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. Representatives from the agencies funding the program, which include the Islamic Development Bank, the UN Development Program, the UN Environment Program and the World Bank, also attended the meeting.
The meeting reviewed progress made over the past six months, examined the achievements implemented or adopted in the member states and revised the operation plans. It also discussed political and technical support for the program featured a presentation on some activities to be carried out in the member countries and how to monitor and sustain them.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. Nizar Tawfiq, secretary-general of PERSGA, the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which executes the program. “The role of SAP is to provide a framework for the long-term conservation of the unique habitats of the region and to promote the sustainable management of renewable marine resources,” Dr. Tawfiq said.
The SAP is a multi-sector program consisting of a number of inter-linking and integrated components.
These components address the reduction of navigation risks and marine pollution, the sustainable use and management of living marine resources, the establishment of a regional network of protected marine areas, support to integrated coastal zone management, and the enhancement of public awareness and participation in the region.
An important part of the implementation strategy is the building of technical and managerial capacities in the regional organization and its focal points.
The program supports the development and implementation of legal, institutional and financial instruments to sustain good environmental management beyond the lifetime of the SAP project.
The representative from Jordan, Dr. Bilal Bashi, said: “I’m looking forward to discussing institutional and regional legal issues relating to marine conservation.”
The SAP was initiated in December 1998 and is scheduled to end in December 2003. The implementation phase was designed to ensure maximum participation of all partners at the national, regional and international levels. The project successfully established regional foundations by forming a central program co-ordination unit and project management team at the PERSGA headquarters in Jeddah and employed a number of regional specialists. At the national level, program coordinators and offices in Djibouti, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen substantially improved communication and flow of information across the region. At the technical level, six specialized working groups formed the cornerstones of project implementation. Still, the representative from Djibouti, Mohammed Ali Moumin, felt that a lot more needs to be done in Djibouti in terms of increasing capacity, raising environmental awareness and reactivating the Center for Combating Environmental Pollution.
At the southern end of the Red Sea, new vessel routing measures have been successfully implemented through the International Maritime Organization. Following a series of new hydrographic surveys the United Kingdom’s Hydro graphic Office has redrawn navigation charts to improve safety. The Marine Science Research and Resources Center and the Fisheries Training Institute in Aden and the Faculty of Marine Science at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah have become regional fisheries research and training centers. Biodiversity surveys have been carried out to assess the status of the populations of seabirds and marine turtles, and detailed assessments have been made at sites in Sudan, Djibouti and Yemen prior to their official recognition as protected marine areas. SAP has prepared an integrated coastal zone management for Aden, which was accepted by the governorate. Public awareness is being raised through a network of school environmental clubs and the involvement of local populations stimulated through a number of community participation programs.
