His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Monarch of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has deputized His Highness Shaikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Personal Representative of His Majesty the King and President of the Public Commission for Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife who attended on behalf of HM the King a gala hosted by International Caucus for Conservation Foundation and the awarding of ICCF prizes in Washington D.C and delivered the speech.
The momentum we have established globally towards enhancing our environmental conservation efforts is unprecedented. With regret this is matched, by the rapid degradation we have collectively wrought on this particularly fragile and interconnected eco-system.
As an archipelago state, near wholly dependent on the vast ubiquitous network of waterways, oceans and seas that recognize no borders, and distribute collectively, each externality, be it positive or negative, few countries are as uniquely placed to recognize this than Bahrain, a country whose people have depended on the sea for over 5,000 years.
To put this into perspective, The Arabian Sea, a vast protected bay we call our home, also serves a dual and highly important purpose of being a primary port of call for much of the world’s East-West trade. Over 65% of vessels passing through the region on an annual basis are tankers, and over 50% of global energy resources, in the form of oil and gas, pass through our waterways. Of those energy resources, we have estimated that between the years 2000-2009 an average of 178,000 tons of oil has been spilled per year.
Exponentially extending the size of our footprint is the fact that the sea is shared by 8 countries, all of which make significant and constant use of it to sustain rapidly growing economies, and as a consequence, growing populations.
This has resulted in a compounded and severe impact on our rich and highly sensitive environment, which is home to Dugong, turtles, mangroves, coral reefs and a host of other inter-connected marine habitats.
The primary challenge ahead of us is the question of how to best meet the demands of our expanding populations, while maintaining the health of our marine ecosystem. We believe this can best be achieved by firmly embedding a policy of conservation directly within our long-term development goals, in a fashion that emphasizes holistic participatory approaches, and is built around a core understanding of the underlying drivers that have contributed to the current state of affairs.
As a snapshot of some of our domestic efforts; in our recently developed National Economic Strategy 2030, we dedicated entire chapters to marine environment considerations in order to ensure this would be elevated to a national policy level. Up to date my government has designated 5 marine protected areas, and is actively engaged in working with our neighbors to designate trans-boundary regional protected areas. Furthermore, as part of our ongoing efforts to rehabilitate commercially impacted fish stocks, large-scale industrial fishing has been banned artificial reefs have been deployed, and captive-bred juvenile fish are regularly released.
Additionally, we have offered support for a host of international efforts, which includes working with our regional partners under the umbrella of the Kuwait Regional Convention for Cooperation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution.
However, more can be done. The current rate of degradation to the marine ecosystem is alarming and could represent a grave existential threat to all mankind; one which can only be confronted with greater sustained efforts, domestically, regionally and internationally, and for that reason I am honored to participate here with you today.
This year’s gala has a special importance as it marks the launching the Oceans Caucus Foundation and we may avail this opportunity to congratulate ICCF for this achievement. Indeed, we highly acknowledge ICCF for their noble objectives and for their valuable efforts in raising the profile of marine conservation on the international agenda. The Kingdom of Bahrain is proud to be a member in the Conservation Council of Nations and we look forward to strengthening our partnership with ICCF as well as other nations for the benefit of our planet.)