Kuwait’s marine environment enjoys great official attention, therefore, laws and executive regulations have been enacted that prohibit any encroachment against it. The World Environment Day, which falls tomorrow, Saturday, focuses on taking urgent measures to revive the damaged ecosystems from forests to coasts, including Kuwait, which gives the environment as a whole, especially the marine environment.<\/p>\n
In a statement to KUNA, Deputy Director-General for Technical Affairs at the Environment Public Authority(EPA), Dr. Abdullah Al-Zaidan, stressed the importance of preserving Kuwait’s environment and raising community awareness on the necessity of preserving marine life. Al-Zaidan noted that the EPA plays a vital role in protecting the marine environment from pollution, preserving its biodiversity, applying the needed laws, and following up on the implementation of the national plan for managing the marine environment. He pointed out that the authority guarantees the protection of marine biodiversity, as it is prohibited to hunt, kill, collect, harm, and possess wild or marine habitats or harm their young.<\/p>\n
In the future, fishing licensing requirements will be changed to achieve the desired goal of preserving the marine environment, he added. He also stressed the keenness to implement international treaties related to biodiversity protection, as Kuwait ratified the CBD Convention for the Conservation of Biodiversity in August 2002, which guarantees the preservation of biological diversity, whether in the terrestrial or marine environment.<\/p>\n
In turn, the head of the Kuwaiti diving team affiliated with the Environmental Volunteer Foundation, Waleed Al-Fadhel, affirmed to (KUNA) the team’s keenness to cooperate with various governmental and voluntary agencies to remove damage to the Kuwaiti marine environment, whether on the coast or in the sea. Since the team’s establishment in 1986, the team has carried out several activities and programs aimed at protecting the marine environment from pollution, as it is the country’s main source, he added. He also noted that the team recovered 768 boats and marine vessels weighing 11,000 tons and removed harmful waste from coasts, harbors, and islands, in cooperation with government agencies, weighing 3,711 tons and lifting neglected fishing nets weighing 241 tons.<\/p>\n\r\n