EPAA, EMEG, Emirates Nature-WWF Join Forces To Conserve Sir Bu Nair Island

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 22nd Oct, 2018) The Environment and Protected Areas Authority, EPAA, the Emirates Marine Environmental Group, EMEG, and Emirates Nature, in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature (Emirates Nature-WWF) will work together to support the conservation management of Sharjah’s Sir Bu Nair Island.

The island is among the seven globally-important sites in the UAE, designated under the Ramsar Convention, and is included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre’s tentative list for its land and marine ecosystems, as well as its rich biodiversity.

The new conservation partnership will highlight the cultural significance of Sir Bu Nair Island and could project the ecologically rich island globally as a scalable model of sustainable marine conservation and management in the UAE.

Once used as a camp for pearl divers between the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sir Bu Nair became known to Emirati poets as the "tear-drop" island of the Arabian Gulf due to its unique circular shape. Today, Sir Bu Nair is home to a rich and diverse natural ecosystem with some of the largest and healthiest corals in the UAE. The protected island is particularly important for the Hawksbill turtle nesting sites within the entire Arabian Gulf.

Building on the UAE’s existing achievements in marine conservation and management, EPAA, EMEG and Emirates Nature-WWF are uniting to conserve the critically important marine ecosystems.

Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, Director-General of Emirates Nature-WWF, said, "This partnership with EPAA and EMEG will see us plan and implement innovative conservation solutions for Sir Bu Nair Island, building on the solid foundations already put in place by our partners and the Sharjah Police. It is through visionary and strategic partnerships that we are able to deliver impactful and science-based solutions that contribute to a sustainable environment as part of the UAE’s National Agenda 2021.

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"We hope to expand on the conservation efforts of this natural treasure and showcase the human, ecological and economic benefits of how government and non-governmental organisations can work together to protect our marine environment. Sir Bu Nair Island is not only significant for Sharjah but the entire nation; through this partnership, we hope to protect its historic, cultural and ecological value," added Hana Saif Al Suwaidi, Chairperson of the EPAA in Sharjah.

"The Emirates Marine Environmental Group has been involved in several ecological surveys and ongoing monitoring on the Sir Bu Nair Island for 18 years, and we are excited to continue our work with EPAA and Emirates Nature-WWF on the next chapter of conservation management," stated Major Ali Saqr Sultan Al Suweidi President of EMEG.

The UAE became a signatory to the Ramsar Convention the intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for the conservation of wetlands and their resources in 2007, and currently hosts seven Ramsar sites, of which four are natural coastal and marine areas. Sir Bu Nair Island was notably declared a Ramsar site on the UAE National Day in 2013. The 13th meeting of Ramsar COP, which highlights the partners’ commitment to the international treaty to conserve and manage critical wetland locations globally, is being hosted by the UAE from 21st to 28th October in Dubai.

With 15 marine protected areas, the nation is set to meet its international commitments under both the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN sustainable development goals.