KUWAIT: Kuwait Dive Team of the Environmental Voluntary Foundation announced yesterday successful settlement of thousands of marine species in Jaber Al-Kuwait Reserves for Sea Creatures and the grand reserve in large sizes and various species. These organisms include seashells, oysters, shellfish, algae, corals and some molluscs, said the environmental projects officer at the Diving Team, Mahmmoud Ashkanani, in a statement to the press.

Such marine reserves create an environment similar to the natural ones where coral reefs grow, Ashkanani said. The team's efforts in the field of marine reserves and Jaber Al-Kuwait Reserves for Sea Creatures project, which extended for 22 years, achieved the desired goals, especially increase of coral colonies onto sandy spots at rocky beds that. These sea beds have been covered with layers of sand due to water currents, some construction works and coastal dams, he added.

The project, which was inaugurated in 2003 in south Doha and Bnaider, is about concrete materials at the bottom of the sea with suitable depths to create an environment suitable for the settlement of coral larvae, in addition to providing caches for fish and other marine organisms. The location of the grand reserve was carefully chosen according to the requirements of safe navigation and diving in it is located in the south of Doha and Bnaider, about 1.6 kilometers from the coast and five kilometers from Ras Al-Zour.

Ashkanani praised the role of governmental and private bodies in supporting this large environmental project, including the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research and the Environment Public Authority. He called on sea goers to preserve these protected areas and the biodiversity of species and not to dump the waste and to inform the concerned authorities of any violations on coral reef sites. - KUNA