Syria works on coastal environment diversity

The Regional Center for Special Protection Areas in Tunis ( RAKSPA) of the United Nations Environmental Program ( UNEP ) decided to allocate Euro 7 million as a gift to Syria to carry out plans and programs of a strategy to protect environmental coastal diversity in Syria in the framework of cooperation and coordination between Syria's Ministry of Local Administration and Environment and the RAKSPA.

The project is considered one of the greatest in supporting sea environment in syria, consisting of four plans: the first focuses on fighting invading pollutants coming from neighboring seas and oceans to Syrian beaches, the second is related to the species threatened with extinction and way of administrating them, such as fish, sponges, sea turtles and seals.

The third plan concentrates on a national working plan to protect the sea vital diversity through adopting campaigns of environmental education and awareness, the fourth deals with the coastal, biological sea diversity.

In a statement to the daily newspaper 'al-Baath' published Sunday, Dean of the Higher Institute of Sea Research, Amir Ibrahim, said Syria for the first time through this pioneering environmental project will hold research applications in the local sea within clear and specific work fields with the participation of the concerned and research scientific centers and agencies.

Ibrahim pointed out that there are underway efforts to draw plans and mechanism of work for this project under scientific criteria to cover the whole Syrian coast.

He added that through the project the expert can discover species and pollutants that invade our beaches to know where they are spreading and assess their effects on the sea environment.