The experts are taking part in a four-day symposium organised by the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (Erwda). It is being held at Beach Rotana Hotels and Towers, Abu Dhabi.
With the UAE being a coastal state where its people have depended on the sea for sustenance and survival for generations, this symposium comes as a great opportunity to provide a forum for the establishment of a national ICZM programme.
Once established, this programme should facilitate arrangements towards developing integrated decision-making based up on a dynamic process of cooperation and coordination between the different sectors and across various levels involved in the exploitation and management of coastal and marine areas and resources.
In his opening address, Saeed Mohammed Al Raghabani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, said the symposium marked an important milestone in the UAE's efforts to strike a balance between the conservation and development of its coastal and marine environment.
"Our coastal and marine environment is an integral part of the country's natural and cultural heritage. The UAE has a relatively long coastline stretching about 700 kilometres and touching two bodies of water, the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Millions of UAE nationals and residents live in coastal areas. Coastal and marine resources are among our country's great natural assets and enjoyment of these assets continues a major part of the country's tradition and way of life," said Raghabani.
He said UAE costal and marine environment forms an important economic engine that contributes to the livelihood of the citizens and residents throughout the country, and to the UAE economy.
"The fishery sector directly employs close to 20,000 fishermen, and the UAE is an important fish producer in the Arabian Gulf region and ranks second in terms of fish production among the Gulf countries," he said, adding: "The country's waterways and sea are a key component of our transportation with the most of the incoming cargo entering, and almost all oil leaving the country through the sea."
The minister said tourism, which heavily depends upon the coast for its development, is an emerging and fast growing industry in the UAE. Together with recreational and leisure activities, this industry has the potential to become a major income earner for the country, he added.
"Furthermore, the ecosystems in the costal zone are important for biological productivity and storm protection and erosion control," he said.
He said that despite the many steps and measures taken by the UAE, the country's valuable costal resources are being increasingly threatened."The unprecedented pace of development and unfettered pursuit of multiple use activities in costal areas inevitably lead to competition for finite resources, environmental degradation with entailing environmental and social conflict. Furthermore, some of the development practices are ignoring the dynamics of coastal systems," said Raghabani.