By Zahra Al-Kadhmi KUWAIT, June 4 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's nine surrounding islands are distinguished by their multi-faceted qualities in terms of environment, history, culture, and tourism, making the country's strategic location more appealing in the region and the world.
The nine islands; Bubiyan, Failaka, Warbah, Kubbar, Auhah, Umm Al-Maradim, Meskan, Qaruh, and Umm Al-Namil differ among each other in formation, land, area, characteristics, and location from the coastline. However, they all have special place and value in the hearts of Kuwaitis as a real and promising wealth for their country's future.
These islands have been given special attention and following by the country's institutions and various governmental and private sectors, as well as voluntary efforts to preserve them as natural reserves for many of living creatures.
Bubiyan is considered the largest of the nine islands, while Qaruh is the smallest and also the furthest island from the Kuwaiti mainland. Failaka is the only populated island, while Warbah is regarded as the best reserve site for birds as it also contains several bays that are covered by tide water. Kubbar is famous for its surrounding coral reefs, while Auhah is known for its best fishing location. Umm Al-Maradim used to be known for hosting pearls, while Meskan is famous for its sea turtles. Umm Al-Namil dates back to the bronze age as many relics from the Abbasid Islamic era were found in the island.
On reality of these islands, Kuwait's Public Authority for Environment (EPA) has formed a national committee to follow up the environmental situation on the nine Kuwaiti islands, as well as studying, monitoring, laying plans, and making proposals to ensure best environmental management for these islands, Eng. Mohammed Al-Enezi, Deputy Director General for Technical Affairs and Industrial Environment at EPA told KUNA.
The committee aims at declaring the islands as reserve areas, where entry procedures would be arranged in coordination with bodies concerned in the country such as Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS), Kuwait University (KU), Cabinet's security decisions' follow-up committee, Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAFR), Ministry of Transpirations, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), and Kuwait Volunteer Work Center, added Al-Enezi.
For his part, Eng. Abdulamir Al-Jazzaf, Assistant Secretary General of KEPS, told KUNA that the Society is very interested in laying out plans and variety of programs for the nine Kuwaiti islands, including major projects presented by specialized teams and committees of national elites in fields of wildlife conservation, diving, activities, birds' monitoring and protection, and environmental studies.
Eng. Al-Jazzaf also said that several major and distinctive projects had been seen in the last four years by KEPS' Kuwait Dive Team, notably the coral farming project at the vicinity of Umm Al-Maradim island in 2011, adding that the dive team used the "Biorock" technology, for the first time in the country, to farm the coral at Umm Al-Maradim and Qaruh. (end) zak.tb.ma