Jebel Ali wetland on Ramsar list
URBAN DEVELOPMENT CAN BE DONE WITHOUT COMPROMISING ENVIRONMENT, MINISTER SAYS
Urban development can be done without compromising ecosystem, minister says |
The Jebel Ali Wetland Sanctuary in Dubai yesterday was added to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, sending a message to the world that urban development can be done without compromising the environment and biodiversity.
The announcement of the inclusion of the Jebel Ali Wetland Sanctuary to the Ramsar list was made on the sidelines of the 13th edition of the Ramsar conference held in Dubai, which saw the gathering of more than 1,000 delegates from around the world.
Dr Thani Ahmad Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, Dawood Abdul Rahman Al Hajiri, director general of Dubai Municipality, and Martha Rojas Urrego, secretary general of Ramsar, made the announcement yesterday.
“The Jebel Ali Wetland Sanctuary is located close to one of the major development projects in Dubai. It sends a message to the world that while development and the economy is growing within the UAE and Dubai, we are at the same time looking after the environment and biodiversity. So balance is always vital and important,” Dr Al Zeyoudi told Gulf News.
The Jebel Ali Wildlife Sanctuary is a 2,002-hectare wetland that covers the marine area between the Palm Jebel Ali and up to the Dubai-Abu Dhabi border to the southwest of Dubai.
It is where the Ghantoot Marine Reserve is located. It is a coastal and marine wetland that has coral reefs, mangroves, shallow lagoons, seagrass beds, oyster beds and sandy shorelines that provide shelter to 539 marine species such as the critically endangered hawksbill turtle, the endangered mottled eagle ray and green turtle.
The site is under the management of Dubai Municipality, which facilitated the inclusion of the wetlands in the Ramsar list. Al Hajiri said the site is open to the public and plans are under way to make the site more ecotourism friendly.
“Right now it’s a wetland, you cannot go around it. You can only see it from the back. But hopefully in the coming months, we’ll try to make it easier for tourists to go there,” Al Hajiri said.
Global effort
Now that the Jebel Ali Wetland Sanctuary is recognised globally as an important wetland due to its ecological and biological significance, protecting it will be a global action as well.
“Conserving this ecosystem is also crucial for the survival of the species it supports. As a protected area, it means that the management of Jebel Ali will take guidance from the Ramsar Convention’s framework,” Urrego said.
Any marine territory that becomes included in the Ramsar list acquires a new national and international status because of its significance not only to the country where it is located but ‘for humanity as a whole’.