Eritrea, UN resume project to protect coastline

MASSAWA, Eritrea, June 7 (AFP) — The Eritrean government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have resumed a joint project, suspended seven years ago, to protect the country’s coastline, officials said on Tuesday.

The project, Eritrean Coastline, Marine and Island Biodiversity (ECMIB) based in the coastal town of Massawa, was suspended in the wake of the devastating 1998-2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia border war.

Alain Jeudy, the ECMIB’s technical advisor, said the project, which resumed this year, was aimed at saving the country’s 1,200-kilometre (720-mile) coastline.

Of the Red sea’s 1,400 fish species, 17 percent are to be found in Eritrea’s coastline, including 20 percent of the sea’s corals, according to ECMIB.

In a first ever discovery in May, nests of the Ridley’s Olive of turtles were found on the Eritrean coast.

“The aim is to form specialists, study the country’s fauna and flora, inform the authorities and the population on the value of their natural ressources and prepare a plan for an integrated management of the coast and islands,” he said.

“We hope to declare some zones as protected areas before the end the year,” Jeudy explained.

The five-year project is jointly funded by the Global Environment Facility and the Eritrean government at a cost of 5.8 million dollars (4.6 million euros).