TEHRAN – Over the past few years, the Ministry of the Environment (DOE) has implemented over 120 projects to protect the country’s maritime coastal ecosystems.
These projects play an important role in the protection, management and restoration of marine ecosystems.
They cover a wide range of sectors, including sea turtle savings, coral reef habitat management, coastal zoning, marine mammal research, and assessing marine ecosystem health.
Studying the restoration of sea turtle nesting habitats in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, monitoring coastal and offshore ecosystems in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, developing national action plans for endangered species and assessing the biodiversity of marine invertebrates is one of the important projects.
Officials say that ongoing collaboration with universities, research institutes and related organizations has increased the efficiency of these projects.
Conservation of marine biodiversity
In April, Doe head Shina Ansari announced the provision of a data bank for more than 5,000 creatures in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, saying it would also serve as a regional and international platform for conserving the biodiversity of these waters.
“This includes efforts such as preparing atlas for sensitive marine ecosystems and identifying habitats for unknown coral reefs, such as the Shah Alam area on the maritime border with Qatar.
Officials made their remarks on the Persian Gulf National Day, which is observed on April 29th each year. This day marks the anniversary of the capture of Ormuz (1622) and expelling the Portuguese navy from the Strait of Hormuz.
With Iran’s 4,900-kilometer coastline, the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea are located in one of the richest marine ecosystems in the world. DOE implements a variety of measures to protect the biodiversity of marine ecosystems, including the development of data strategies and planning tools to implement scientific and data-driven decision-making.
Legal support and uncontrolled conservation measures are not successful. To strengthen regulatory and legal frameworks, the DOE has developed and issued guidelines for seawater quality standards, marine discharge regulations, dr dr, waste disposal regulations and assessment of oil contamination damage, officials added.
The DOE is implementing other programs such as coral restoration, registration of coastal wetlands under the Ramsar Convention, development of a national action plan for mangrove conservation, and monitoring the marine environment, Ansari further noted.
The DOE has worked with local communities, government agencies and science centres to develop an action plan to preserve sharks and rays by monitoring the population, raising awareness and empowering fishermen.
Unfortunately, excessive fishing and illegal fishing, their late maturity and low breeding have threatened these species by extinction.
The action plan, which employs a participatory approach, aims to identify threats, reduce conflict, promote a culture of conservation, and determine five-year priorities.
Fadakar said the DOE had previously conducted 48 educational and participatory workshops in the coastal state.
The latest workshop was held with the participation of representatives from the Iranian Fisheries Organisation, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Mining, Iranian Customs Authority, and National Planning and Budget Authority to strengthen cooperation between these agencies.
mt/mg