Exposure to marine life is key to conservation

Emirates Environment Expedition aims to take UAE residents on marine trips and on scuba dives to witness life under the sea, so they will do more to protect it.

In the UAE, scuba divers say they see only a tenth of the fish they saw less than 20 years ago. Antonie Robertson / The National

ABU DHABI // To curb the destruction of marine life and increase in pollution in UAE waters, people need to see and understand what is ­being lost, ocean experts said.

The world’s great bodies of water are suffering unprecedented levels of species loss. Some estimates suggest that 90 per cent of large ocean predators have disappeared since the early 1990s and that habitat destruction continues.

Those who share the oceans with its marine life agreed. In the UAE, scuba divers said they saw only a 10th of the fish they saw less than 20 years ago.

Ahmed Al Hashimi, director of biological diversity at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, said that getting people to see the ocean for themselves was the first step in teaching them to care.

“Imagine the engineer who has never spent a moment under water, designing a seaside resort with no regard for life,” he said. “How is he supposed to care? Or even know what he or she is destroying?”

Urban life has distanced people from their environment to such an extent, he said, that animals exist only in a digital world.

Reminding them that life was being lost, Mr Al Hashimi said, was key for conservation efforts.

“We wanted to get them into the environment, so that they think twice about whether they want to affect marine life, because if you don’t see it, you will not care,” he said.

Mr Al Hashimi established Emirates Environment Expedition, an initiative aimed at taking UAE residents on marine trips, allowing them to scuba dive and witness life under the sea.

“We always hear it, ‘We didn’t expect all those creatures to be under water’, so how do you expect some to care? If you haven’t dived, how will you know the effect you are having? But if you dive, then it changes everything,” he said.

Juma bin Thalith has been diving since 1992 and has been a recreational fishermen since he was 7. He said that the changes he has seen in the seas have changed his attitude.

“I’d say 90 per cent of all the marine life is gone. Our habitat destruction, in my estimate, will take 200 to 300 years for the ocean to recover. But there isn’t much we can do,” he said.

Mr bin Thalith, a board member at the Emirates Diving Association, said that getting people into the ocean was not only a way to help them understand the amount of waste that they are responsible for but also a way to encourage the general public to do more.

“I haven’t lost hope – the ocean is still a living, breathing thing. For me, the ocean is still a source of joy. If you enjoy something then you will care about it,” he said.

However, some divers believe that encouraging scuba diving should be directed at those most responsible for the problems.

“I question whether those people who are interested in scuba diving actually have an effect. I don’t think so,” said Angus Carlisle, a diver in the UAE. “If you want to have an effect, you need to teach the commercial fishermen who go out with these massive nets and catch everything. You need to teach them how to dive.”

Mr Carlisle, who has been diving in the UAE for more than 20 years, said that although he did not see much of a difference in the coral levels, the amount of fish was significantly less now than it was in 1991.

He reiterated that fishermen needed to be educated.

“To have a big effect, go talk to the fishermen, these guys with the kilometre-long nets who catch everything in the sea,” he said. “I think it’s a little bit silly what’s going on. I’d be very careful about celebrating a big catch of fish.”

For more information on Emirates Environment Expedition, contact the ministry’s call centre on 800 3050.