EDA DIRECTOR’S NOTE
GLOBAL RECOGNITION Welcome to our September issue of ‘Divers for the Environment.’ I have noticed that some of our members have travelled to some excellent dive destinations this summer including Mexico, Australia, Philippines, and the Dominican Republic amongst others.
IBRAHIM AL-ZU’BI
EDA Executive Director
Emirates Diving Association (EDA) was established by order of H.H Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late President of the United Arab Emirates, under Federal Decree No. (23) Under Article No. (21) on 23/02/1995 registered by the UAE General Authority of Youth & Sports Welfare and chose Dubai as its base. It is my great pleasure to inform you that EDA was recently renewed with one of the most important global recognitions. EDA has been reaccredited by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a nonprofit global Voluntary Organisation. We are the first diving association in the world to get such accreditation, our commitment to the marine conservation for the last 22 years put us on the forefront of global organisations that promote for sports and the environment. Having had more than 3,000 passionate and dedicated members over our 22 years who appreciate the sea and underwater marine life are key factors in our success and making EDA a hot organisation on the national, regional and international level. Congratulations to all of you, to our leaders and most importantly to our beloved UAE. I also want to take this opportunity to share with you the role and the objectives of EDA since our launch in 1995: • To legislate all diving activities in the UAE. • To ensure environmentally respectful diving practices in both commercial and recreational diving through standardisation of practice.
• To Support the diving industry within the UAE by coordinating the efforts of the diving community. • To promote and preserve historical aspects of diving within the gulf region, i.e. pearl diving. • To enhance environmental education to diving and non-diving communities through EDA activities. Since our establishment in 1995, EDA has been committed to marine conservation and our flagship project, Clean Up Arabia is becoming a platform for scientists, divers and activists to take practical action to protect our coral reefs by studying them, collecting data, raising awareness based on a scientific approach and sharing the results regionally and globally. EDA’s annual 22nd Clean Up Arabia will be starting in November this year in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the local municipalities, and I am sure you are all excited to join us to ensure we do the best we can to keep our oceans as clean as possible. Looking forward to seeing you all there and a big thank you in advance to all our clean up volunteers and of course, sponsors. I hope you have all managed to have a diving holiday and explored somewhere new this summer. It’s a wonderful world. Eid Adha Mubarak to you all, and as always, happy eco diving. Dive Safe!
Ibrahim Al-Zu’bi
SEPTEMBER 2017 | DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
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