KUWAIT, Jan 22 (KUNA) -- UK Chief Executive for the Center for Environment, Fisheries and Agriculture Science (CEFAS) Neil Hornby affirmed Wednesday the importance of knowledge sharing in tackling global environmental challenges, including climate change.
In an interview with KUNA after concluding an official visit to Kuwait with the assistance of UK's Embassy to Kuwait to commemorate the 10th anniversary of CEFAS work with multiple environmental entities in Kuwait, Hornby lauded the ongoing cooperation with Kuwait highlighting the vital data and multi-projects that aim to safeguard the marine environment in Kuwait and in turn the region and the world for future generations. Meeting with officials from the Regional Organization For The Protection of The Marine Environment (ROPME), Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research(KISR) and Environmental Public Authority (EPA), Hornby stated that vital work is being done in various projects to study the effects of climate change, human impact and pollution on the marine environment and to tackle those challenges by bridging and connecting the various environmental agencies, institutes and governments. He explained that CEFAS is collaborating with those entities to help better understand the marine ecosystem and improve ways to collect information and properly monitor it, which are important in boosting the efforts to preserve it and help nourish it. Hornby noted that Kuwait is situated in the hottest region in the world and is by the hottest sea in the world, the Arabian Gulf, making it at the forefront of the challenges climate change is introducing and that CEFAS is collaborating with the various entities in Kuwait to assist in managing, maintaining and protecting the marine species from the coral reefs to fishes. Hornby also reiterated the vital data that is being gathered here in Kuwait such as the coral resistance to temperature changes and the heat of the sea it lives in which is shared globally through either CEFAS and other environmental institutes to help protect the marine ecosystems around the world from which more than 25 research papers where published by the efforts of joint collaboration between Kuwaiti and UK scientists in the field. He also highlighted the importance of spreading awareness across the education systems and the youth regarding the environment lauding what he has witnessed from enthusiastic response from students during his visit to Kuwait International English School in Kuwait noting that they have established a beach cleaning club and that CEFAS has provided tools to help them accomplish their mission of keeping Kuwait's beaches clean and habitable by the rich marine life they host. When asked about the most challenging aspects of the work here in Kuwait, Hornby said that the rising heat is the most significant challenge the scientists are facing in this region with temperatures soaring above 50c during the summer, yet "the continued work by our scientists and their counterparts here is but a testament of the dedication they have to the importance of their work," he reiterated. CEFAS is the UK government marine science center that provides vital data to its government and collaborates from all over the world from the Antarctic to Southeastern countries to protect seas, oceans and rivers healthy and productive for us and our future generations. (end) yt.aa