In cooperation with the ministry environment, water and agriculture in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. PERSGA organized national training workshop on the economic valuation of marine resources in PERSGA region. The workshop was attended by eighteen national experts, and the training lectures were delivered by PERSGA speciates and an international consultant (a professor of environmental and ecological economics at Aberystwyth University in the UK).
The workshop was structured around a series of presentations on different aspects of ecosystem services assessments followed by breakout group discussions to develop an understanding of how these concepts could be applied in the PERSGA region. The ultimate aim being to allow participants to develop a comprehensive understanding of how they might apply ecosystem services assessments in PERSGA region.
The workshop presented a case study to assess the value of marine resources. The Workshop participants were split into three breakout groups. In their groups, participants were asked to consider why marine resources (coral reefs, sea grass, mangroves) in the PERSGA region should be protected? The following topics were covered in the discussions:
- What drivers are threatening PERSGA marine resources ?
- Why is it important to protect PERSGA marine resources ?
- What policies are in place to protect PERSGA marine resources ?
- Who benefits from protecting PERSGA marine resources ?
The overall conclusion from the discussion was that it was important to protect the marine resources for nature’s intrinsic values, as well as the benefits that nature provides to people. It was also recognized that there are currently policies in place to protect marine resources, but that more protection is still needed.