ROPME Monitoring Activities for the Assessment of Marine Environment Quality of the RSA

Since the adoption Kuwait Regional Convention and Kuwait Action Plan (KAP) in 1978 for the co-operation between Member States in ROPME Sea Area (RSA) for the protection of the marine environment and the coastal areas of the Region, many programmes have been implemented and still continued for the assessment of the state of the marine environment.

The assessment programmes include monitoring of the marine environment quality in coastal and open sea areas with special reference to the presence, levels and trends (temporal and spatial) of contaminants in the Regional marine environment.

To secure reliable data and scientifically credible information for the sound management and protection of RSA from pollution, ROPME took charge the coordination and implementation of the following important initiatives, amongst others:

1.  Organizing periodical oceanographic cruise in the open sea of RSA
2.  Receiving, archiving and disseminating remote sensing data and information
3.  Conducting long-term Contaminant Screening in the near-shore marine environment of RSA
4.  Implementing a Regional Mussel Watch Programme (RMWP)
5.  Establishing a Regional Marine Sample Bank (RMSB)
6.  Establishing ROPME Integrated Information System