Item Type Article
Authors Fawzi, Nadia Al-Mudaffar;Fieseler, Clare M.;Helmuth, Brian;Leitão, Alexandra;Al-Ainsi, Mehsin;Al Mukaimi,
Mohammad;Al-Saidi, Mohammad;Al Senafi, Fahad;Bejarano, Ivonne;Ben-Hamadou, Radhouan;D’Addario, Josh;Mohamed, Ahmad Mujthaba Dheen;Giraldes, Bruno W.;Glowka,
Lyle;Johnson, Maggie D.;Lyons, Brett P.;Mateos-Molina, Daniel;Marshall, Christopher D.;Mohammed, Sayeed;Range, Pedro;Shokri, Mohammad Reza;Wong, John M. K.;Pyenson, Nicholas D.
Citation Fawzi, N. A.-M., Fieseler, C. M., Helmuth, B., Leitão, A., Al-Ainsi, M., Al Mukaimi, M., Al-Saidi, M., Al Senafi, F., Bejarano, I., Ben- Hamadou, R., D’Addario, J., Mohamed, A. M. D., Giraldes, B.
W., Glowka, L., Johnson, M. D., Lyons, B. P., Mateos-Molina, D., Marshall, C. D., Mohammed, S., … Pyenson, N. D. (2022).
Diplomacy for the world’s hottest sea. Science, 376(6600), 1389–
1390. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.add1555 Eprint version Post-print
DOI 10.1126/science.add1555
Publisher American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Journal Science
Rights Archived with thanks to Science Download date 2023-12-01 08:01:24
Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10754/679341
Title: Diplomacy for the world’s hottest sea 1
Authors: Nadia Al-Mudaffar Fawzi1, Clare M. Fieseler2*, Brian Helmuth3, Alexandra Leitão4, 2
Mehsin Al-Ainsi5, Mohammad Al Mukaimi6, Mohammad Al-Saidi7, Fahad Al Senafi6, Ivonne 3
Bejarano8, Radhouan Ben-Hamadou4,5, Josh D’Addario9, Ahmad Mujthaba Dheen Mohamed5, 4
Bruno W. Giraldes4, Lyle Glowka10, Maggie D. Johnson11, Brett P. Lyons12, Daniel Mateos- 5
Molina13, Christopher D. Marshall14,15, Sayeed Mohammed16, Pedro Range4, Mohammad Reza 6
Shokri17, John M.K. Wong18, Nicholas D. Pyenson2 7
8
Affiliations:
9
1Marine Science Centre, University of Basrah, Basra, Iraq 10
2National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 11
3School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA 12
4Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar 13
5Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar 14
University, Doha, Qatar 15
6 Marine Science Department, College of Science, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait 16
7Department of International Affairs, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar 17
8Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Department, American University of Sharjah, 18
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 19
9The Open Data Institute, London, United Kingdom 20
10 Biodiversity Strategies International, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 21
11Red Sea Research Center, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division, 22
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 23
12Weymouth Laboratory, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), 24
Weymouth, UK 25
13Emirates Nature WWF, Dubai, United Arab Emirates 26
14Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, Galveston Campus; Galveston, TX, 27
USA 28
15Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University; College Station, 29
TX, USA.
30
16Arab Climate Young Movement Qatar, Doha, Qatar 31
17Department of Animal Sciences and Marine Biology, Faculty of Life Science and 32
Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Tehran, Iran 33
18Aquatic Research Center, Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Doha, Qatar 34
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] 35
36
Main Text:
37
Countries that border the Persian or Arabian Gulf (hereafter “Gulf”) are adopting 38
ambitious global commitments to protect their marine environments (1). The United Arab 39
Emirates (UAE) has committed to protecting 30% of their lands and waters, with other Gulf 40
states expected to soon join. Gulf countries will not meaningfully meet these and other global 41
commitments (e.g., post-2020 biodiversity framework) without rebuilding trust, exchanging 42
knowledge, and jump-starting conservation coordination across their maritime boundaries. Gulf 43
scientists have an overlooked role in this work.
44
The Gulf’s political boundaries are crowded among Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, 45
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, making the regional networking of marine protected areas 46
(MPAs) critical to system-wide conservation success (2). During the summer, the Gulf is the 47
world’s hottest marine system, with many organisms living near their physiological limits (3,4).
48
The Gulf is a global hot spot for coastal development and desalination, causing further declines 49
to coral reefs and sea grass meadows (5-7), as well as direct threats to dugongs and other 50
transboundary species.
51
In contrast to remote and largely uninhabited ecosystems, like Antarctica, highly 52
degraded ecosystems are overlooked settings for advancing science diplomacy (8,9). The 53
softening of political tensions between many Gulf countries opens possibilities. First, we 54
recommend regional funding for collaborating scientists to pursue networked Gulf studies.
55
Second, we recommend establishing Gulf-wide peer networks among scientists that build trust 56
through data sharing, strengthening relationships for “data diplomacy” (10). Third, scientists 57
should collaborate with capable boundary organizations that can facilitate the planning of future 58
transboundary MPAs, an intervention critically needed in the Gulf (11).
59
Scientists and international institutions are not reliant on formal diplomatic channels to 60
act (12). Starting now creates a foundation for co-producing state-led ocean science diplomacy in 61
the coming decades, as the region enters a new era of peace and ocean protection.
62 63
References and Notes 64
1. The name of this water body remains contentious. The one-word name “Gulf” is used here, as 65
previous publications have done, to omit any geographic descriptors that detract from a 66
productive dialogue. “Inner Gulf of the ROPME Sea” or “ROPME Sea Area” are names 67
accepted by all coastal states of the Gulf via the ROPME Council.
68
2. S.E. Schill, G.T. Raber, J.J. Roberts, E. A. Treml, J. Brenner, P. N. Halpin, No reef is an 69
island: integrating coral reef connectivity data into the design of regional-scale marine protected 70
area networks. PLoS ONE 10, 0144199 (2015).
71
3. B.M. Riegl et al. Coral reefs of the Gulf: Adaptation to Climatic Extremes. B. M. Riegl, S.J.
72
Purkis, Ed., (Springer, Netherlands, 2012).
73
4. C.C. Hume, C. D’Angelo, E. G. Smith, J. R. Stevens, J. Burt, J. Wiedenmann, Symbiodinium 74
thermophilum sp. nov., a thermotolerant symbiotic alga prevalent in corals of the world’s hottest 75
sea, the Persian/Arabian Gulf, Scientific Reports 5, 8562 (2015).
76
5. J. Burt, The environmental costs of coastal urbanization in the Arabian Gulf. City 18, 760–
77
770 (2014).
78
6. P.F. Sale, D.A. Feary, J.A. Burt, A.G. Bauman, G.H. Cavalcante, K.G. Drouillard, B. Kjerfve, 79
E. Marquis, C.G. Trick, P. Usseglio, H. Van Lavieren. The growing need for sustainable 80
ecological management of marine communities of the Persian Gulf. Ambio 40, 4-7 (2010) 81
7. N.J. Edmonds, A.S. Al-Zaidan, A.A. Al-Sabah, W.J.F. Le Quesne, M.J. Devlin, P. I. Davison, 82
B.P. Lyons. Kuwait’s marine biodiversity: qualitative assessment of indicator habitats and 83
species. Marine Pollution Bulletin 163, 111915 (2021).
84
8. C.M. Brooks, L.B. Crowder, L.M. Curran, R.B. Dunbar, D.G. Ainley, K.J. Dodds, K.M.
85
Gjerde, U. Rashid Sumaila, Science-based management in decline in the Southern Ocean: the 86
burden of proof is bring turned upside down. Science 354, 185-187 (2016).
87
9. P.A. Berkelman, L. Kullerud, A. Pope, A.N. Vykegzhanin, O.R. Young, The Artic Science 88
Agreement propels science diplomacy: amid geopolitical tension, science aligns common 89
interests. Science 358, 596-598 (2017).
90
10. A. Boyd, J. Getwood, S. Thurson, T. Dye, Data diplomacy. Science Diplomacy 8, 1-15 91
(2019).
92
11. M. H. Knight, P.J. Seddon, A. Al Midfa, Transboundary conservation initiatives and 93
opportunities in the Arabian Peninsula. Zoology in the Middle East 54, 183-195.
94
12.. K.M. Lord, V. C. Turkekin, Time for a new era of science diplomacy. Science 315, 769-770 95
(2007).
96
