An innovative governing system is being established in Aqaba. In February 2000 the city has been declared as a Special Economic Zone, governed by a highly autonomous authority. The main objectives of the new authority are to develop Aqaba Subsequent to the establishment of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) as a haven for commerce, a destination for tourism, and an incubator for technology. The expected pressure of coastal development on the coastal environment created a strong motivation to conducting detailed studies to better understand the coral reef ecosystem functioning and assess its capacity to accommodate coastal constructions and developments. At this stage of political and environmental awareness maturity, the need was identified for an environmental program that covers the entire northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba rather than just the Jordanian coast. Two scientific institutions, the MSS from Aqaba and the IUI from Elat, associated with two government agencies ASEZA from Aqaba and the Nature and Marine Park Authority from Elat have applied jointly in the framework of the Marine Peace Pack for a research, monitoring, management and outreach program, to be managed by the two government agencies and implemented by the scientific institutions. The RSMPP project ended in December 2002 and achieved its objectives..In continuation to the RSMPP the fast track project is initiated in 2004 with financial support from USAID. The project focuses on: upgrading of infrastructures established in the RSMPP (databases, mapping and GIS, water circulation models) aiming at transforming them to more powerful (jointly managed) monitoring,research and managing tools; developing the application of new monitoring techniques (remote sensing, particulate organic matter, genotoxicity and cell abnormalities); developing new approaches for early monitoring, assessing status of marine habitats and conservation measures (zooplankton, fish nursery sites).

For details contact us:

Email: mssoffice@ju.edu.jo