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R 051337Z APR 06
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RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RULSJGA/COMDT COGARD WASHDC
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 6359
RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0223
RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI 0016
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RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0107
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1405

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000268 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
Commerce for NOAA/International/Susan Ware-Harris 
Interior for International/Senhadji and for NPS 
Paris for US Mission UNESCO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV XF SA
SUBJECT: PERSGA Coordinating Protection of Red Sea 
 
REFTEL: PREVIOUS JEDDAH CABLE ON PERSGA 
 
¶1.  Summary: PERSGA is a Jeddah-based intergovernmental 
organization that builds capacity and organizes research for 
the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden ecosystem.  They are assessing 
land-based activities that affect the Red Sea and working 
with member governments on coastal zone management plans. 
End Summary 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Red Sea Ecosystem Has High Biodiversity, Endemism 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2.  PERSGA (www.persga.org) is an acronym for the Regional 
Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the 
Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.  Amman-based Regional 
Environment Officer and Jeddah E/P Chief visited PERSGA on 
March 18 and spoke with Secretary General Dr. Ziad Abu- 
Ghararah, a PhD in environmental engineering from Virginia 
Tech. 
 
¶3.  Dr. Abu-Ghararah said that PERSGA is an 
intergovernmental organization whose seven members are Saudi 
Arabia, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Jordan, Yemen and Djibouti. 
He commented that there is excellent cooperation and a 
"united vision" towards the Red Sea by the members.  He 
called attention to the biodiversity of the Red Sea/Gulf of 
Aden ecosystem, which includes coral reefs, sea birds, 
mangroves, dugongs, sea turtles, and many species of shark. 
There is a high level of endemism (species found only there) 
in the Red Sea, he said.  Saudi Arabia contributes 50% of 
PERSGA's funding and Egypt contributes 30%.  PERSGA has 
sixteen staff, and expects to reach 40 staff within four 
years. 
 
------------------------------ 
Possible World Heritage Sites? 
------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  ESTH Officer said that the USG sits on the UNESCO World 
Heritage Committee, that we are interested in expanding the 
number of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Arab world, and 
that sites in the Red Sea might be an appropriate way to do 
this.  PERSGA's Dr. Abu-Ghararah supported this idea.  He 
said that he is already actively consulting with Saudi 
colleagues on designating sites in the Red Sea as World 
Heritage sites. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Land-Based Activities Seen as Key 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Assessing land-based activities that affect the marine 
environment is PERSGA's main priority.  Their goal is to 
ensure that development is done sustainably.  For the last 
few years, PERSGA has been assisting its member states, 
under a Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant, to develop 
and implement strategic action plans for coastal zone 
management.  To accomplish this, PERSGA runs several 
training courses per year on such topics as coastal zone 
management, wastewater management, and sustainable tourism. 
 
¶6.  The two biggest components of that plan are assessing 
the effect of land-based activities on the marine ecosystem, 
and assessing the biodiversity of the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden 
ecosystem.  These in turn have individual components: 
wastewater impacts, solid waste impacts, hazardous waste, 
water quality, and biodiversity hotspots.  Dr. Abu-Ghararah 
said that NOAA assisted PERSGA with assessing the socio- 
economic aspects of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management 
plan for the region.  With these quantitative measures on 
the health of the Red Sea in hand, PERSGA plans to identify 
gaps and priority areas, produce a project on managing the 
effects of land-based activities and submit it to GEF for 
funding. 
 
¶7.  PERSGA's upcoming five year plan focuses on economic 
development and poverty alleviation in coastal areas, and 
 
JEDDAH 00000268  002 OF 002 
 
 
good governance for coastal and marine areas, including 
public participation. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Interested in Cooperation and Support 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  Dr. Abu-Ghararah said that PERSGA would be very 
interested in American technical assistance in such areas as 
seawater chemistry, marine biology, environmental 
accounting, enforcement, coastline management, auditing, 
contingency planning, legislation and regulation.  He noted 
the success of State's White Water to Blue Water program, 
and said PERSGA would like to apply some of the best 
practices from that program to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden 
area.  Exchanges of Masters students would also be welcome, 
he said. 
 
¶9.  PERSGA will host in Jeddah the October 2007 meeting of 
UNEP's Regional Seas program.  That meeting will evaluate 
UNEP's Global Plan of Action on land-based activities that 
affect the marine environment. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Emergency Response to Marine Pollution, Oil Spills 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶10.  PERSGA has assisted its members in opening a Marine 
Emergency Mutual Aid Center (MEMAC) in Hurghada, Egypt and 
in developing a contingency plan for marine pollution 
emergencies such as oil spills.  The MEMAC, similar to but 
not affiliated with another MEMAC center in Bahrain, works 
with individual countries to develop their marine 
contingency plans.  MEMAC is a focal point for gathering 
information such as types and locations of equipment, points 
of contact and so on.  In event of an emergency, MEMAC would 
gather and distribute information, and organize the 
deployment of manpower and equipment from the individual 
countries in the region. 
 
------------------------------- 
NGO "Reef Chief" Doing Its Part 
------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  ESTH Officer and E/P Chief also met Mr. Tarek Taher, a 
businessman with a strong love for the Red Sea.  Mr. Taher 
has formed an NGO called "Reef Chief" and is organizing 
activities to protect, promote and assess the marine 
environment in the Red Sea.  He funded and produced a short 
but heartfelt documentary called "My Planet - The Red Sea" 
that he introduced and showed at the JEDDAH ECONOMIC FORUM 
on February 13 of this year.  Reef Chief has been 
documenting the Red Sea's aquatic life and using the video 
and other means to raise awareness.  Noting that he is "an 
amateur," Mr. Taher is interested in supporting scientific 
activities in the Red Sea, such as turtle tagging, and asked 
for assistance to beef up his organization's ability to do a 
professional job. 
 
GFOELLER