Zalul-Protection of the Red Sea

Zalul, a non-profit organization for the environment and conservation of the Red Sea, was established 4 years ago in order to protect the seas and rivers of Israel. The organization was founded by prominent businesspeople, environmentalists, academics and public officials. All of its activities are funded by donations from its members.

One of Zalul’s large projects is saving the coral reef in the Bay of Eilat. A team of Zalul experts analyzed the causes for the reef’s destruction and found surprising results: the Eilat sewage, which was the main destructive force until its flow into the sea was stopped in 1995, has been replaced by equally damaging fish tanks which produce materials that harm the reef. The tanks’ damage is compounded by the activities of Eilat Port, the city’s marina and careless divers.

The deterioration of the reef in Eilat Bay required immediate coordinated action among the different environmental groups that work to protect the bay’s marine environment. A General Directors’ Committee was assembled which formed an international team of scientists to investigate the subject. The team produced a report that clearly stated that the fish tanks in the bay are its main polluter, and that 97% of the nutrients and nitrates released into the bay originate from the fish tanks. A coral reef can only survive in clear water, and delicate ecological balances must be kept so that the reef may thrive. Any damage, large or small, would directly harm the reef’s wholeness and would affect its development.

For the last 4 years, the Zalul organization has conducted an uncompromising struggle against the bay’s pollution, in cooperation with organizations such as the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of the Environment, the Municipality of Eilat and environmental organizations. This effort has been mostly successful, since most of the polluters are investing many resources in an attempt to stop the pollution they cause. The Eilat Port Authority spent millions to build a loader that prevents phosphate dust from dispersing into the sea; the city marina has built a special apparatus to contain sewage from the yachts and boats that anchor there; the Ministry of the Environment monitors hotel sewage; the Eilat municipality built a new facility to treat the city’s refuse; the national Nature and Parks Authority published a new divers’ guide that regulates diving in the coral reef.

The only subject that remains unresolved is that of the fish tanks in the northern part of Eilat Bay. Israel’s various planning authorities have now decided that the fish tanks belong outside the Eilat Bay. With the interests of the marine farmers in mind, they agreed that there is room for marine agriculture in the Eilat area, but using land-based tanks, as is common round the world.

Location

16 Aba Hillel Silver St.
Ramat Gan, Israel 0
Israel