Saudi Arabia is becoming a global leader in marine conservation
The release on Netflix of the documentary “Horizon” showcasing the Kingdom’s wildlife is a landmark event in raising awareness about the country’s unique biodiversity. While terrestrial wildlife has been the focus of conservation efforts in Saudi Arabia for decades, there has been less attention paid to marine wildlife. However, under Vision 2030, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is rapidly becoming a global leader in marine conservation.
These efforts are now guided by the many discoveries made by the Red Sea Decade Expedition — a collaborative involving the National Center for Wildlife, King Abdulaziz University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, NEOM, Red Sea Global and OceanX.
On Feb. 10 and 11, the NCW hosted the Red
Sea Decade Expedition Symposium in Riyadh, marking a milestone in marine conservation. Led by the NCW, the Red Sea Decade Expedition surveyed Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea waters, from the shoreline to the greatest depths, and from south to north.
This was achieved with two research vessels — OceanXplorer and KAU’s Al-Azzizi — equipped with submersibles, deep-sea robots, a helicopter and advanced technologies and laboratories.
The Red Sea Decade Expedition used advanced DNA sequencing technologies to establish a catalog of the Red Sea’s biodiversity, from bacteria to whales, to inform the Kingdom’s commitment to conserve 30 percent of the Red Sea.
The expedition discovered many new species and even new families of corals and other marine species of interest. It gathered the first images of living lantern fish, the most abundant fish on the planet, which, hidden in the depths of the ocean, had never been filmed alive before. It also retrieved the first footage of delicate gelatinous animals that are extremely rare in the ocean. We assessed the abundance of sea turtles, dolphins, whales and other marine wildlife of conservation interest, and discovered a range of amazing ecosystems, particularly the blue holes and sunken lagoons north of Jazan. These remarkable ecosystems, not even known to local fishermen, who do not venture into these shallow reefs and deep holes, are major targets for conservation and ecotourism and are of global significance.
We unveiled how the efficient operation of the microbial food web in the Red Sea sustains one of the largest stocks of deep-water fish in the world, despite its low nutrient input.
Our teams assessed the levels of litter and plastic across the Red Sea, which identified shipping as a major source of waste found on the seafloor, demonstrating the need for operators to improve their compliance with existing policies to avoid marine pollution. Furthermore, we assessed coral health and identified the best-preserved coral reefs as well as those that should be the focus of restoration efforts.
We also retrieved samples off the seafloor using technology deployed for the first time anywhere in the ocean.
I had the honor of serving as scientific coordinator for the expedition alongside Mohammad Qurban, CEO of the NWC and himself a renowned marine scientist, whose leadership forged such a collaborative environment. Together, as brothers and sisters, we are building a bright future for our natural heritage, which the Kingdom is committed to conserve for generations to come.