Qatargas Operating Company LTD (Qatargas) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MoECC), Qatar University (QU), and the Ministry of Municipality (MoM) celebrates the completion of the latest phase of the Coral Management Programme (CMP) originally launched in 2021.

Khalifa Ahmed Al Sulaiti, Qatargas Chief Health Safety Environment and Quality Officer, shares: "Qatargas is very pleased to safely complete the latest phase of our comprehensive, long-term Coral Management Programme to protect and sustain Qatars valuable natural reserves. We are honored to partner with the MoECC, QU and MoM to introduce the best environmental and marine protection technologies and practices to the State of Qatar and enhance environmental awareness and knowledge sharing on a national level in line with the Environmental Development Pillar of QNV 2030 and Qatargas long-term Environmental Strategy."

Al-Sulaiti on the success of the Coral Nursery:

"We remain especially proud of the state-of-the-art Coral Nursery established as part of our CMP which has the potential to become a national coral bank, thereby contributing to future marine biodiversity and coral protection projects in the State of Qatar."

The hybrid artificial reefs that were locally manufactured using environmentally friendly materials deployed by Qatargas amounted to 1,100 units. 12,000 live corals from Qatargas projects areas to these recipient sites for preservation were also done.

The land-based Coral Nursery, the first of its kind, established by Qatargas at the Aquatic Fisheries Research Center (AFRC) in Ras Matbakh, received a total of 1,000 live corals from the Qatargas Project site for coral husbandry, which included coral rehabilitation and fragmentation. The coral husbandry at AFRC produced an estimated 10,000 fragmented or juvenile corals. These corals were then out-planted in line with the protocols developed in coordination with the MoECC and QU. The out-planted corals aided in the rehabilitation and development of the coral reef oasis in Qatar's waters.

Qatargas also recently released over 22,000 juvenile hamour fish by the AFRC into the Qatargas coral sites to further enrich and propagate the sites by creating a healthy marine ecosystem. This initiative will benefit local fish, marine species, and fauna.

Source: Qatar News Agency
Cover image credit: Qatar Gas

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Cassandra Pallagud

Content Writer

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