Five UAE sites identified as areas of global ecological importance during EBSA workshop
Abu Dhabi, UAE – The UAE has identified five sites as areas of global biological and ecological importance during a recent regional workshop on Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) in the North-Western Indian Ocean and the neighbouring Gulf region. The workshop was hosted by the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water with AGEDI as a collaborator, in addition to representatives from the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Eritrea, Pakistan, India and various international and regional organisations. The identified sites – the Southwest Waters of Abu Dhabi and the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve in Abu Dhabi, Jebel Ali in Dubai and Sir Bu Na’air Island, and Khor Kalba in Sharjah – were evaluated based on the criteria established during the ninth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.