A three day national workshop on community involvement and stakeholders participation in coastal environmental monitoring on the Jordanian part of the Gulf of Aqaba has been organized in Collaboration between PERSGA and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority ASEZA. The workshop was opened under the patronage of His Excellency the Environment Commissioner at ASEZA Mr. Suleiman Njadat on February 22nd 2016 and took place at Princess Basma Community Development Centre /Aqaba. It was attended by about forty participants representing different stakeholders relevant to the coastal and marine environment in Aqaba. This workshop comes within the framework of implementation of Component 3 of the SEM Project and the project of wastewater management in coastal cities on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which is implemented by PERSGA in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program UNEP.
This workshop formed the beginning of a series of national workshops that would be organized by PERSGA in synergy between the two projects. The workshop witnessed fruitful discussions between the participants and came out with a number of recommendations including:
Form a Citizen Science Group of the relevant local community, stakeholders and people who are in direct or indirect contact with the environment.
This group operates under the umbrella of the Environmental Awareness and Marine Park Department in Aqaba Special Economic Zone with the participation of the following associations:
The Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS)
Jordan Environment Society
Fishermen Association; Thagr al Ordon Association
Jordan River Foundation
Spring Association for Protection of the Environment and Animals
Jordanian Red Crescent Society
Glass boats Association
The Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS) coordinates between the group members, and communicates with government agencies concerning official letters and any related correspondence.
