Northeastern Arabia Reef Monitoring Network Workshop

Coral reefs of northeastern Arabia including the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman are the most biodiverse and economically important regional ecosystems, but are increasingly threatened by climate change and population pressures. There is a need for a cohesive, standardized region-wide reef monitoring program to help understand the status and trends of reef health to guide ecosystem-based management. This workshop brings together regional reef specialists to exchange past survey data, and establish a standardized reef monitoring and data archival approach to implement going forward. The objective is to strengthen regional collaboration and survey data interoperability.

• John Burt, Associate Professor of Biology, NYUAD