A guide for planners and managers - IUCN

PART III
Case Histories of Marine Protected Areas
Achievements: Management, Scientific Investigations and Partnerships
Management objectives favoring the development of the Southern Sinai Protectorates
have been directed to respond to, and mitigate, the consequences of rapid development
of a tourism-based economy in the Southern Sinai. Although such coastal development
has been typically expected to have both direct and indirect effects on the health of
marine resources, particularly coral reefs, due to increased sediment load arising from
nearby dredging and coastal engineering and eutrophication from discharge of
untreated sewage, in the Southern Sinai Protectorates many of these threats have been
largely controlled by the thorough application of existing legislation (Medio, 1995;
Pearson and Shehata, 1998). These controls have lead to the following results:
• infilling and the discharge of any effluents at sea have been prohibited and their
implementation successfully enforced since initial protection status in 1983; this
has resulted in the successful conservation of the area’s marine and coastal
resources, especially its coral reefs (Pearson and Shehata, 1998);
• cross-reef walkways and floating pontoons have been introduced to reduce damage
from swimmers and divers crossing the fringing reef (Ormond et al., 1997);
• a monitoring programme was initiated early on to assess the effectiveness of
management measures in place (Medio, 1996);
• public awareness and diver training programmes have proved effective in limiting
damage to reefs (Medio et al., 1997);
• mandatory EIAs for all developments have been successfully enforced (Pearson
and Shehata, 1998);
• continuous assessment and management of commercial and artisanal fisheries has
been introduced (Pearson and Shehata, 1998);
• continuous and on-going scientific investigations with the assistance of the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and numerous European universities have
provided rigorous data on key ecological issues including natural and man-made
rates of damage to corals, apparent rates of coral recruitment, and reef community
structure providing useful information for the management in place (Medio,
1996; Pearson and Shehata, 1998);
• training programmes for selected staff have involved qualified experts contracted
by donor assisted projects (just 6 years after overseas training started, a school
for rangers and managers is scheduled to open before the end of 1999, with
scheduled sessions with Jordan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti and Oman);
• effective implementation of appropriate environmental standards, both at design
and construction stages, and during operation, have been introduced and effectively
implemented and enforced in order to prevent reef degradation (Ormond et al.,
1997).
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