Background:

The ROPME Sea Area (RSA), a unique biogeographical unit within the northwestern Indian Ocean, is shared by eight riparian states: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Its northern part, the Inner RSA, is an almost landlocked, shallow sea where scarce rainfall and high evaporation rates result in increased salinities, while the annual fluctuation in water temperatures is rather extreme. These and other factors contribute to a naturally stressful environment for tropical marine flora and fauna. Still, biodiversity and productivity are remarkably high. Through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, the Inner RSA is connected with the Gulf of Oman (the Outer RSA), a deep basin with oceanic conditions and a wide range of coastal and marine ecosystems and associated biota.

The arid coastal zone, a distinctive feature of the region, supports extensive stands of mangroves, halophytes and springs with oasis-type vegetation and unique biotic assemblages. Shallow waters are characterized by extensive and highly productive seagrass beds and coral reefs, which are critical habitats for many other plant and animal species. The region is rich in fish diversity and supports many globally important populations of turtles, seabirds and marine mammals.

Since ancient times, these resources are of pivotal importance for the region’s human population. However, the marine environment is increasingly subjected to severe pressure from urban and industrial development and particularly from oil exploitation, resulting in habitat destruction, unsustainable utilization of renewable resources and pollution. The scarce coastal freshwater resources are particularly threatened. In recent years, the countries of the region have strengthened their capacity in managing coastal and marine ecosystems and the cross-sectoral nature of integrated coastal management is now widely recognized. The scientific basis is, however lagging behind. Research undertaken after the 1991 Gulf war provided valuable baselines but in recent years research activities slowed down although we are still far from fully understanding the patterns and processes sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.

Targeted baseline research remains a pre-requisite for scientifically sound environmental management. The decision of the regional political leadership to promote the transformation to knowledge-based societies is a new opportunity and a challenge for the scientific community. The international conference on the State of the Gulf Ecosystem is a response to this challenge. This conference is the second in a series of conferences planned on the Arabian Gulf by the Aquatic Ecosystems Health and Management Society (AEHMS). The first Gulf conference held in Al-Ain, UAE, during 2006, was very productive and successful. It is expected that this conference in Kuwait will be exciting, and open new windows of research and communication. The conference is supported by ROPME and KFAS Kuwait.

Objectives:

• Enhancement of ecological and environmental awareness of the Gulf - ROPME Sea Area in the light of its continued exposure to intensive anthropogenic stresses and exploitation.
• Adoption of integrated, ecosystemic, multi-disciplinary, multi-trophic and holistic approaches in science and management.
• Provision of possible remedies for problems associated with oil and gas industry pollution in the air and water.
  Prediction of the future threats that the Gulf environment faces by adopting ecosystem, habitat and food web modeling approaches.
• Promotion of international and standard monitoring/research programs to generate an environmental data base for the Gulf involving all countries bordering the Gulf.

Conference Theme:

Platform and poster presentations are invited from researchers, managers and students on the proposed themes given below:

• Aquatic ecology and climatology
• Oil & non oil pollution: input, fate and impacts
• Trans-boundary movement of emerging pollutants
• Impact of desalination plants on marine areas
• Ecotoxicolgy and ecosystem health (ecological indicators)
• Natural resource damage assessment
• Fish, fisheries, habitat & management
• Biodiversity, invasive species and endangered species
• Coastal ecosystems and wetlands
• Predictive modeling and risk assessment
• Remote sensing applications
• Marine environment and human health

The abstract submission deadline is October 1st, 2010. Abstracts must be submitted by email to: Jennifer Lorimer , as a Word or text file. English is the official conference language. All presentations, posters, and abstracts will be in English. The author must indicate if he/she wishes to present the abstract orally or as a poster. Underline the presenting author and include affiliation, address and email of the presenting author only. Abstracts will be limited to one page in length (approximately 450 words) in the following format: Text – single space Times New Roman 12 pt, Margins - 2.5 cm (1”), Paper - letter size 21.6x28 cm (8.5x11”). An example abstract is available at www.aehms.org demonstrating abstract format. Any abstracts over the word limit will be returned to the author. Abstracts should synthesize from the objectives, methods,
qq results, and conclusions of the paper. The book of abstracts will act as the proceedings of the conference.

The Registration fee for the participants will be KD 100 or equivalent.

The conference will take place in Kuwait City. The exact venue will be announced at a later date.

Conference Organizing Committee:

• Dr. Dhari Al-Ajmi (Director EUD/ KISR, Kuwait, Conference Chairman, dalajmi@kisr.edu.kw)
• Dr. M. Munawar (conference co-chair, Canada, mohi.munawar@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)
• Dr. Abdul Nabi Al-Ghadban (Kuwait)
• Dr. Waleed Hamza (UAE)
• Dr. Goran Dave (Sweden)
• Dr. Benno Boer (Qatar)

Secretariat:

Scientific:

• Jennifer Lorimer (Canada, jennifer.lorimer@dfo-mpo.gc.ca)
• Lisa Elder (Canada)

Administrative:

Sanaa Zaki (sanaaz@safat.kisr.edu.kw)
Environmental Sciences Department
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research,
PO Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait

• Dr. Abdul Nabi Al-Ghadban (Chairman, Kuwait, aghadban@kisr.edu.kw)
• Dr. M.U. Beg (Co-Chairman, Kuwait, mbeg@safat.kisr.edu.kw)
• Dr. Faiza Al-Yamani (Kuwait)
• Dr. Manaf Behbehani (Kuwait)
• Dr. Fareed Krupp (Saudi Arabia)
• Dr. Khadija Zainal (Bahrain)
• Dr. Andrew Price (UK)
• Dr. Lulwa Ali (Kuwait)
• Dr. Saleh Al-Muzaini (Kuwait)
• Dr. Talat Saeed (Kuwait)
• Dr. Ahmad Al-Dousari (Kuwait)
• Dr. Bondi Gevao (Kuwait)
• Dr. Iqbal Saifuddin (Kuwait)
• Dr. Hassan Al-Shemmari (Kuwait)

Proposed Workshops:

• Gulf co-operation and Ecosystem health agreement
• Sediment Quality Guidelines
• Emerging Pollutants

Response Questionnaire:

Please complete a response questionnaire to express your interest in attending the conference to Jennifer Lorimer before August 20th, 2010. Conference/registration information will be sent to those who complete and return the response questionnaire. The form is available at www.aehms.org 

AEHMS Publication Plans:

Selected manuscripts will be considered for publication subject to peer review in the ISI rated journal: Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management and/or in the Ecovision World Monograph Series depending on the quality and suitability of the manuscripts. Instructions to authors on the preparation of manuscripts can be found on the AEHMS website: www.aehms.org/Journal/ins_authors.htm Due to the large number of manuscripts expected the AEHMS has set page limit guidelines as follows: Keynote: 8; Oral & Poster: 6 printed pages including tables and figures (Text: Times New Roman 11pt, Margins: 2.7 cm (1”), Paper: letter size 21.6x28 cm (8.5x11”)). For more information please contact Dr. M. Munawar, Chief Editor. 

Download Response Form 

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