EGYPT, Wadi El Gemal National Park Area, Southern Red Sea - January 2008
Installation and implementation of mooring buoy network
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The Red Sea coast has been designated for tourism development by the Egyptian government since the early 1980s. In 2003, the Egypt’s Ministry of Environment, with the support of the Red Sea Governate, declared Wadi El Gemal Hamata WGNP as a national park. The park has been nominated as a Biosphere Reserve, which will raise its potential for ecotourism and related job opportunities. Coral reefs in the area are among the most diverse (240 species) in the Egyptian Red Sea and are home to a great diversity of fish and marine invertebrates (about 1,000 species). The Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Organization (HEPCA) was founded in 1992. Their initial mooring project has evolved into the largest mooring network in the world, with over 1,000 moorings protecting reefs and wrecks. With the assistance of HEPCA, Seacology will fund the installation of 25 mooring buoys in dive sites around the area’s five islands for the conservation of the marine segment of Wadi El Gemal National Park, which encompasses almost 494,100 acres.
UPDATE January 2009 - In June 2008, all documentation was completed and the project began. As of September 2008 materials were purchased and diving teams began assessments to determine the best locations for the buoys. Installation was scheduled to start in late September. Also in September, project leaders began working on the artwork for printing environmental educational materials as well as plans for conducting educational seminars for dive skippers once the busy seasons of October/November are over. A site visit to the project occurred in November 2008 by Seacology’s Red Sea Expedition group.
UPDATE July 2009 - The main component of mooring installation was completed in November 2008. All of the nominated sites were covered. Some members of the Seacology expedition to the Red Sea actually took a role in the physical installation of mooring buoys. The educational seminars were held in January 2009 and were extremely successful.
