Post by Dive Bunnie on May 14, 2004 13:57:11 GMT
I have just heard about a new threat to the beauty of the Red Sea which I feel you should all know about.
Basically an Italian consortium is planning to buy Giftun Island near Hurghada and turn it into a huge hotel complex.
Currently the island is pretty much untouched, and is surrounded by a whole host of stunning coral reefs. The mere building aspect of this project (even if they were able to be sensitive to the surrounding reef and not construct artificial beaches) will cause great damage to the coral simply by the amount of dust that will be generated by a project of this size. This dust will end up choking the corals when it inevitably ends up in the sea.
I appreciate that the Egyptian government has this incredible asset in the Red Sea, however they need to treat it with care otherwise it will simply not be worth visiting, and all these big, beautiful hotels they are building will stand empty… a slight testament to their folly. Sharm is already incredibly built up and Hurghada too, with Dahab fast behind them. Part of the beauty of areas like Giftun, Tiran and Ras Mohammed is the fact that these places have been left to nature and are not bristling with buildings.
To find out more and sign the petition against this, please please please go to the following link:
www.PetitionOnline.com/GIFTUN/petition.html
The Tony Backhurst company a major contributor of divers to the area has already backed the petition, so if you value your favourite local reef, don't be shy.
And if you don't think petitions work, just look at the Princess cruises case… after mass bombardment from conservationists and divers, they have finally agreed to treat the sewage that is dumped from their cruise liners:
www.stopcruisepollution.com/
Basically an Italian consortium is planning to buy Giftun Island near Hurghada and turn it into a huge hotel complex.
Currently the island is pretty much untouched, and is surrounded by a whole host of stunning coral reefs. The mere building aspect of this project (even if they were able to be sensitive to the surrounding reef and not construct artificial beaches) will cause great damage to the coral simply by the amount of dust that will be generated by a project of this size. This dust will end up choking the corals when it inevitably ends up in the sea.
I appreciate that the Egyptian government has this incredible asset in the Red Sea, however they need to treat it with care otherwise it will simply not be worth visiting, and all these big, beautiful hotels they are building will stand empty… a slight testament to their folly. Sharm is already incredibly built up and Hurghada too, with Dahab fast behind them. Part of the beauty of areas like Giftun, Tiran and Ras Mohammed is the fact that these places have been left to nature and are not bristling with buildings.
To find out more and sign the petition against this, please please please go to the following link:
www.PetitionOnline.com/GIFTUN/petition.html
The Tony Backhurst company a major contributor of divers to the area has already backed the petition, so if you value your favourite local reef, don't be shy.
And if you don't think petitions work, just look at the Princess cruises case… after mass bombardment from conservationists and divers, they have finally agreed to treat the sewage that is dumped from their cruise liners:
www.stopcruisepollution.com/
