Friday 26 / July / 2024
Muscat: The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Environment Authority, participated in the celebration of World Oceans Day, which falls on June 8 of each year under the slogan “Stimulating action for our ocean and climate,” to focus on the importance of the oceans in the health of our planet and our future, and to strengthen global efforts to protect them from increasing threats, such as climate change, pollution and overfishing.
This year's celebration is intended to raise public awareness of the impact of human actions on the oceans, develop global efforts for the ocean, and unite the world's population in the project of sustainable management of the world's oceans and protecting them from the dangers of pollution.
The Environment Authority's efforts are to develop programs to protect the marine environment in the Sultanate of Oman through the implementation of a project to monitor pollutants in the marine environment, which is implemented annually, whereby stations are selected along the coastal strip from Musandam Governorate to Dhofar Governorate, and samples of water and sediments are collected to measure levels of pollutants in Marine environment (heavy metals and hydrocarbons) and evaluation of results and variables in the marine environment.
This project provides some indicators to measure the extent of marine pollution in the Sultanate, especially in sensitive sites such as industrial ports.
The Authority has implemented several projects to protect natural resources in the marine environment, including a project to study the success rate of Al-Rimani turtle nests on the beaches of the state of Masirah Island, in partnership with international organisations, to identify sites of relative importance for nesting on different beaches, and to determine the factors that affect the success of nesting and hatching, in addition to identifying spatial planning and beach use control measures to ensure optimal use and management of environmental resources, and a project to track the Arabian Sea humpback whale, a unique whale that is threatened with extinction.
It is worth noting that the Environment Authority seeks to enact laws and legislation to protect the marine environment through the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Law and the Natural Reserves Law and to oblige companies to adhere to the standards specified in the regulations for discharging liquid waste into the marine environment.
