Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Large Marine Ecosystem

PERSGA, the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, is an intergovernmental body dedicated to the conservation of the coastal and marine environments in the region. Operating from Jeddah on the Red Sea, PERSGA is responsible for the development and implementation of regional programs for the protection and preservation of the unique ecosystem and high biological diversity of this region.

The waters of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are famous for their natural beauty and outstanding biological diversity. This area has gained global important being home to a significant number of animals and plants that are not found anywhere else on the planet. What makes the region of particular interest to geologists and biologists is that it seems to be a new ocean in the first stages of formation. The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is rich with a number of unique marine habitats including coral reefs, mangroves, salt marshes, saltpans and sea grass beds. The importance of this region can also be traced in the lives of fishermen living and working close to those waters for these are productive areas for local fisheries having provided food for the region for thousands of years. Those fisheries have become of considerable socio-economic importance to the region's states in terms of national security and income generation for rural communities. The region therefore continues to have the potential to establish a valuable and sustainable fishing industry that would ensure future generations with food as well as employment. Furthermore, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden form an important transportation route between the Far East and Europe, particularly for the carriage of oil and other commodities.

For the countries of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, two centuries of industrialization came all at once, when oil wealth brought both the benefits and problems of fast economic growth to one of the world's most fragile environments. PERSGA began its intervention in the region at a time when marine life faced threats from oil discharged by ships, from dredging and construction as well as wastes produced by the big industrial plants being built in the coastal zone. PERSGA's intervention also stemmed out of concern that the rate of consumption of natural resources by mankind was very high and most development was performed without any concern to the environment, which resulted in disturbances of the natural balance. PERSGA's area of activities includes the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Gulf of Suez, the Suez Canal to its end on the Mediterranean, and the Gulf of Aden surrounding the Socotra archipelago and its nearby waters. Several factors thus continue to threaten the region's richness and biodiversity. Today, supertankers cruise this historical trading route transporting oil and other dangerous cargoes around the world. The potential for accidents that might release oil or other toxic chemicals into the marine environment is addressed by PERSGA in cooperation with several international bodies. Those waters, with their unique habitats and their animal and plant communities, are thus placed in increasing jeopardy each day as a result of oil and effluent pollution. Humans also pose another threat to marine life in the region. Fishermen, for instance, tend to catch turtles for their meat and eggs. Local recreational use of beaches in some areas also results in disturbing or even killing nesting turtles. More so, the shark resources of the region are heavily fished. In some places, there is growing evidence of depletion, which is attributed to a lack of control over national shark fisheries and an illegal fishing by fishermen who also catch sharks using gillnets and long-lines, thus causing damage to coral reefs. Furthermore, illegal fishing by vessels operating outside their natural waters is commonplace. The absence of effective control, surveillance and enforcement of regulations has thus resulted in widespread poaching and habitat destruction by foreign and national vessels. There also lies the problem of national over-exploitation as well as concentration of fishing within limited waters, which leads to a reduction in the number and diversity of fish as well as to habitat destruction in some cases. As to navigation risks involved, coral reefs form natural barriers to ships traveling through the Red Sea on their way to or from the Suez Canal. The coral is so extensive in some areas that only narrow channels remain, which can be quite hazardous. Many southern harbors are partially blocked by reefs. The ever-presence of oil tankers in such routes increases the risk of a disaster to happen if one of them hits a coral reef. This leads again to the ever-present threat of pollution by oil, sewage and chemical effluents. Industrial activities and urban development also pose threats to the region's marine life in the form of industrial and urban pollution, waste disposal, surface and ground water usage and saltwater intrusion to aquifers. Agriculture also threatens the marine environment through increased sedimentation and the potential pollution from pesticide and fertilizer residues. All the above mentioned threats could lead to habitat destruction due to coastal development, pond construction for shrimp and fish culture, mangrove destruction, damage for coral reefs through unsustainable fishing practices, removal of coral for the tourist trade and physical damage caused by tourist divers. PERSGA thus assumes the task of promoting activities aimed at safeguarding the environment and supporting sustainable development in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden region.