ROPME sea area

Regional Organisation for Protection of the Marine Enviroment (ROPME)

A. Overview

The ROPME Sea Area (RSA) is endowed with valuable natural resources and a great biodiversity of plant and animal species. The wetlands, waterfowl, mangroves, fish, marine mammals, turtles, corals and other forms of life are treasures of the Region. There are over twenty species of dolphin and whale, all the five subtropical species of turtles, and more than a thousand species of fish, most of which, are endemic and have a high commercial value.

The RSA is divided into three geographically and environmentally distinct parts. The division referred to as the inner ROPME Sea Area (i-RSA) consists of the marine area west of 56^o E longitude that extends along the NW/SE axis from the north State of the boundary of the RSA to the north of Strait of Hormuz. The Middle RSA (M-RSA) covers the Sea of Oman, and the Outer RSA (O-RSA) stretches over the entire southern boundary of the RSA across the Arabian Sea that starts from Ra’s Al-Hadd to the southern border of Oman.

The impacts of land-based activities on the coastal waters are significant.

• The municipal sewage and industrial effluents from such industries as petroleum refineries, power, desalination and petrochemical plants are major contributors to pollution loads.
• Dredging and reclamation activities are also a permanent feature in many coastal areas with tremendous damaging effects on the marine environment.
• Operational and accidental oil pollution is another major challenge in the Region. The impacts on the marine environment by offshore oil installations, particularly water, are enormous.
• The operational pollution from ships and dumping of ballast water are also among the main causes of chronic oil pollution in the Region.

B. Introduction

ROPME Sea Area (referred to as the Kuwait Action Plan Region in the past) is the Sea Area surrounded by the eight Member States of ROPME: Bahrain, I.R.Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The term "ROPME Sea Area" was coined by Plenipotentiaries of the Member States to achieve unanimity in denoting the area covered by the Kuwait Regional Convention of 1978. It in fact reflects the goodwill of the Member States to cooperate in protecting their common marine environment in spite of the existing geopolitical boundaries. ROPME is comprised of three administrative organs (the Council, the Secretariat and the Judicial Commission), scientific bodies (Remote Sensing Unit, RIIS, MEMAC) and legal instruments (Protocols and Guidelines).

The main objective of ROPME is to coordinate efforts of the eight Member States towards protection of the marine and coastal environment and ecosystems in the ROPME Sea Area against marine pollution and stressors that might be induced from developmental activities or / and other drivers of change.

Milestones include the creation in 1979 of the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME), the establishment in 1982 of the Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC), and the adoption of four protocols addressing marine emergencies, hazardous wastes, land-based activities and sea-based pollution

C. Organizational structure

In accordance with Article XVI of the Convention, the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME) consists of three organs i.e.

1. The Council - It consists of Contracting States' Representatives at Ministerial level. ROPME is governed by the Council decisions concerning the administrative affairs and implementation of programmes of the Organization.
2. Secretariat is comprised of Executive Secretary, Co-ordinator, Officers and other necessary personnel. They carry out the assignments under the Convention and its Protocols; convene meetings; transmit information to contracting Parties; etc
3. Judicial Commission - As per the decision of the Executive Committee (March 1989), the Judicial Commission was established composed of six nationals of ROPME Member States (I.R.Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), who are highly qualified and experienced in international law and juridical matters.

D. The Convention and its related legal instruments

1. Kuwait Regional Convention for Cooperation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution
2. Protocol concerning Regional Cooperation in Combating Pollution by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Cases of Emergency (1978)
3. Protocol concerning Marine Pollution resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf (1989)
4. Protocol for the Protection of the Marine Environment against Pollution from Land-Based Sources (1990)
5. Protocol on the Control of Marine Trans-boundary Movements and Disposal of Hazardous Wastes and Other Wastes (1998)
6. Draft Protocol concerning the conservation of biological diversity and the establishment of protected areas.

 E. Areas of work

1. Monitoring of land based sources - One of the main elements of the Kuwait Action Plan is the periodical assessment of the state of the marine and coastal environment of the ROPME Sea Area (RSA), of the trends in the quality of the environment, of the sources of its degradation and the impacts of the degradation on human health, ecosystems and amenities.
2. Satellite-based Marine Environmental Monitoring - ROPME has initiated a Regional program and special remote sensing unit for routine monitoring of marine and coastal environments in the Region
3. Contaminant screening – This is a sampling programme carried out to ascertain the status of contaminants in the water, sediment and biota of the coastal areas.
4. Oceanographic cruises 
5. Marine Biodiversity
6. Mussel watch
7. Marine sample bank – Where ROPME Secretariat stores subsamples of collected marine samples during all ROPME monitoring programmes under controlled condition. The data obtained from the analyses of these samples is for the spatial and temporal integrated trends of the environmental status in the Region for retrospective monitoring and studies.
8. Environmental management –

F. Partnerships

ROPME has also established close working relations and collaboration with regional environmental bodies, international organizations and their related conventions/ programmes particularly with FAO, IAEA, IHO, IMO, IAEA, IOC, ISO, IUCN, OPEC, RECSO, UNEP, UNDP, UNESCO and WHO.

G. On-going projects

ROPME is currently working on five Regional Action Plans, viz., EBM, Sand and Dust Storms, Marine Biodiversity, Climate Change, and Eutrophication and HABs.

H. Key achievements

Developed the basic legal instruments and the Regional guidelines, standards, recommended practices and procedures to prevent, abate and combat pollution from all sources in the ROPME Sea Area. Developed comprehensive monitoring programmes to facilitate the implementation of the Kuwait Action Plan for prevention, abatement and combating pollution of the marine environment and coastal areas.

I. Interesting facts

1. 47 percent of the world's planktonic cysts are found in the ROPME Sea Area, of which 13 are invasive species.
2. The shipping lanes through the inner ROPME Sea Area are some of the busiest in the world.
3. The ROPME Sea Area (RSA) is known to be one of the hottest areas in the world.
4. ROPME Sea Area countries have at their disposal up to 23% of the world natural gas reserve and account for 8% of the world natural gas production. (ROPME State of the Marine Environment Report – 2013).
5. In 2010, the Region was producing around 25 million barrels of oil per day, comprising 23% of the global production (www.cia.gov), with 49% of this production being shipped through the RSA. In addition, 1.79% of the World’s total shipping activity is through the RSA Region (MEMAC, 2008).
6. In Oman, Masirah Island hosts the largest population of loggerhead turtles in the world. In addition, Masirah remains one of only two similarly-sized nesting populations in the world, the other being in Florida, USA. This gives Oman an unusually large global responsibility for the protection of this species. ROPME State of the Marine Environment Report – 2013).
7. RSA is one of the five most important regions of the world especially for wintering waders.
8. The estimated population of dugongs makes the inner RSA the most important area for the dugongs in the western half of its distribution range, and one of the most important known areas outside of Australia.

Contact us

PO Box 26388, 13124 Safat 

STATE OF KUWAIT 

Tel:  (965) 22093939 

22090021 24864226

Fax: (965) 24864212

        (965) 24861668 

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Email: ropme@ropme.org 

Website: http://ropme.org