System to monitor health of Red Sea

JEDDAH: A top environmental body based here has launched a high-tech system that will monitor the health of the Red Sea.

The Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA) set up the first phase of the project in Aqaba, Jordan, with plans to complete it in five years.
The station would supply environmental data on the northern part of the Red Sea. It would be the nucleus of a regional network along the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, said Ziad Abu Gharara, secretary general of the PERSGA.
Abu Gharara said the solar-powered system has been installed on a floating platform 200 meters off the coast in an area where the water is 25 meters deep. It records water levels, physical and chemical characteristics of the sea, and radiation levels in the water and air.
It would also record the height of waves and other factors related to global climate change. The data would also be displayed publicly to visitors and residents on a screen installed in the city center, he said.
Abu Gharara said this was a major development in environmental protection and would enable decision makers and scientists in the region to take speedy and appropriate action if serious problems are detected.
The PERSGA is an intergovernmental body dedicated to the conservation of the coastal and marine environments in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aqaba, Gulf of Suez, Suez Canal, and Gulf of Aden surrounding the Socotra Archipelago and nearby waters. The PERSGA’s member states are Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The organization was formally set up in September 1995 after the signing of the Cairo Declaration. It is an affiliate of the Arab League and recognized as one of the leading marine conservation organizations operating in the Red Sea region.