The Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Coral Reefs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Surveys 1990 to 2000 Summary and Recommendations PERSGA Technical Series No. 7 PERSGA Jeddah 2003 PERSGA - ‘The Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden’ is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the conservation of the coastal and marine environments in the region. The Regional Convention for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Environment (Jeddah Convention) 1982, provides the legal foundation for PERSGA. The Secretariat of the Organization was formally established in Jeddah following the Cairo Declaration of September 1995. The PERSGA member states are Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. PERSGA, P.O. Box 53662, Jeddah 21583, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Tel.: +966-2-657-3224. Fax: +966-2-652-1901. Email: [email protected] The document “Coral Reefs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Surveys 1990 to 2000 Summary and Recommendations” was prepared by Dr. Nicolas Pilcher in 2000 with the assistance of several co-authors as listed in the table of contents. The work was carried out through the ‘Habitats and Biodiversity Conservation’ Component of the Strategic Action Programme for the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, a Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Bank, with supplementary funding from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The comments expressed in this document represent the opinion of the author(s) acting in their own capacities and do not necessarily represent the views of PERSGA or the agencies that assisted with funding the preparation of the report. Any outlines or descriptions presented do not imply the expression of any opinion, on the part of PERSGA or any funding agency, concerning the legal boundaries of any state, territory, city limit, frontier or boundary. © 2002 PERSGA This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without the permission of the copyright holders provided that acknowledgement of the source is given. PERSGA would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this material as a source. This publication may not be copied, or distributed electronically, for resale or other commercial purposes without prior permission, in writing, from PERSGA. This publication may be cited as: PERSGA/GEF. 2003. Coral Reefs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Surveys 1990 to 2000 Summary and Recommendations. PERSGA Technical Series No. 7. PERSGA, Jeddah. Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................. ii Authors’ Addresses.............................................................................................. ii List of Acronyms ............................................................................................... iii Executive Summary ............................................................................................ v Résumé Analytique .......................................................................................... xiii Coral Reefs of Egypt........................................................................................... 1 Nicolas Pilcher & Mohammed M. Abou Zaid Coral Reefs of Sudan ........................................................................................ 13 Nicolas Pilcher & Dirar Nasr Coral Reefs of Djibouti..................................................................................... 27 Nicolas Pilcher and Nasser Djama Abdi Récifs Coralliens à Djibouti.............................................................................. 43 Nicolas Pilcher and Nasser Djama Abdi Coral Reefs along the Northern Coast of Somalia............................................ 59 Nicolas Pilcher, Robert Baldwin, Mike Schleyer Coral Reefs of Yemen ....................................................................................... 71 Nicolas Pilcher & Lyndon DeVantier Coral Reefs of Saudi Arabia ............................................................................. 93 Nicolas Pilcher & Lyndon DeVantier Coral Reefs of Jordan...................................................................................... 117 Nicolas Pilcher & Salim M. Al-Moghrabi References ....................................................................................................... 125 PERSGA Publications..................................................................................... 135 Executive Summary - (Arabic) i Coral Reefs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Acknowledgements This document was prepared under the patronage and guidance of the Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden (PERSGA). Funding was provided by the Global Environment Facility (UNDP, UNEP, World Bank) and the Islamic Development Bank through implementation of the Strategic Action Programme for the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Our sincere thanks are offered to Dr. Nizar I. Tawfiq (Secretary General) for his support and commitment to the research undertaken within the region. All assistance is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the following for their assistance with the country reports: Aden Atteyeh and David Obura (Djibouti); Ashraf El Cibahy, Yaser Awadalla, Ekram Amine, Mohammed Shokry, Mohammed Kotb, Mahmoud Hanafy and Stephen Jameson (Egypt); Fareed Krupp and Abdullah Alsuhaibany (Saudi Arabia); Ali Farah Ali and Yusuf Omar Ali (Somalia); Mohammed Younis and Fareed Krupp (Sudan); Abdullah Alsuhaibany, Fareed Krupp, Catherine Cheung, Emre Turak, Majed Al-Sorimi, Khaled Hariri, Malik Abdul-Aziz, Fouad Naseeb Saeed, Jon Brodie, Glenn De’ath, John Turner, Rebecca Klaus, Uwe Zajonz and Jeremy Kemp (Yemen). We would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Abdulaziz Abuzinada and Dr. Hany Tatwany at the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development for giving us access to material presented at the International Workshop on the Extent and Impact of Coral Bleaching in the Arabian Region, held in Riyadh in February 2000. Authors’ Addresses Nicolas Pilcher Dirar Nasr Marine Research Foundation PERSGA, P.O. Box 53662, Jeddah 21583, Kingdom of 1-3A-7 The Peak, Lorong Puncak 1 Saudi Arabia. 88400 Kota kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Lyndon DeVantier Mohammed M. Abou Zaid JICA-NCWCD Study Team, P.O. Box 61681, Riyadh Marine Biology and Fish Science Section, Faculty of 11575, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt. Salim M. Al-Moghrabi Abdullah Alsuhaibany Marine Science Station, P.O. Box 195, Aqaba 77111, PERSGA, P.O. Box 53662, Jeddah 21583, Kingdom of Jordan. Saudi Arabia. Nasser Djama Abdi NPC PERSGA-SAP, P.O. Box 616, Djibouti. ii List of Acronyms ARA Aqaba Regional Authority ALECSO Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization CAMP Coastal Area Management Programme CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CERD Centre for Scientific Research (Djibouti) CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora COTS Crown of thorns starfish CZM Coastal Zone Management DANIDA Danish International Development Agency DAP Di-ammonium Phosphate DC Dead Coral EARO Eastern Africa Regional Office (IUCN) EEAA Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency EFZ Economic Free Zone (Sudan) EGPC Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EPC Environment Protection Council (Yemen) EPCCOM Environmental Protection Coordinating Committee ENSO El Nino Southern Oscillation EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FIMPA Farasan Islands Marine Protected Area FRT Fisheries Research Team GAFRD General Authority for Fish Resources Development (Egypt) GCC Gulf Cooperation Council GCEP General Corporation for Environmental Protection (Jordan) GCRMN Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network GEF Global Environment Facility GIS Geographical Information System GNPOC Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company GTA General Tourism Authority (Yemen) HC Hard Coral HCENR Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (Sudan) HCEP Higher Council for Environmental Protection (Jordan) ICED International Center for Environment and Development (Egypt) ICRI International Coral Reef Initiative ICLARM International Centre for Living Aquatic Resources Management ICZM Integrated Coastal Zone Management IMO International Maritime Organization of the United Nations ITMD International Tyre Manufacturing and Distribution (Sudan) IUCN World Conservation Union (formerly International Union for the Conservation of Nature) JICA Japanese International Co-operation Agency JPMC Jordan Phosphate Mines Company JREDS Jordan Royal Ecological Diving Society JSS Jordan Standards Specifications KFUPM-RI King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Research Institute iii Coral Reefs in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden KISR Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research LMR Living Marine Resources MARPOL International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships MAW Ministry of Agriculture and Water MEMAC Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre MEPA Meteorology and Environmental Protection Administration (Saudi Arabia) MFW Ministry of Fish Wealth (Yemen) MoD Ministry of Defence MOU Memorandum of Understanding MP Marine Park (Jordan) MPA Marine