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Ras
Mohamed
About 30 km south of Sharm El Sheikh there
is the southernmost part of Sinai: the Ras Mohamed. With
its extraordinary beauty it is one of the or for some even
the most interesting site in Sinai. This first and only
Egyptian National Park was declared in 1983 with an area
of 97m². Since then it has been extended to 480km²
and includes marine and terrestrial areas (also on Tiran
Island).
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Species
Ras Mohamed is the point where two different water masses
are coming together: the salty water from the Gulf of
Suez and the less salty water from the much deeper
Gulf of Aqaba. As a result of these two water-come-togethers
there are now more than 1.000 species of tropical fish
and more than 170 species of corals
as well as a huge number of sponges and gorgonians.
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| Corals
The park is surrounded by magnificent coral
reefs that are famous in the whole world for
its unique beauty. These corals are part of an elevated
promontory that emerged after a change in the coastline
some 70.000 years ago.
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Protection
Because of its exeptional beauty and its enormous scientific
significance, the Egyptian Government has declared this
area as a protected area in 1983 (law 102). It should especially
protect this area from any possible harm that could arise
from the quickly growing tourism.
There are plenty of damages, coming especially with
tourism activities, that have negative and
long term impact. For example, swimmers, snorkellers
or divers that are standing or walking on
corals in order to reach the sea are damaging the fragile
surface. The corals are then open to bacterial attack and
desease. Photographers damage the nature just
to have a better view, cars are going off
tracks, destroy seeds, and do harm to the plant life. Boats
are anchoring on reef areas and each time they drop
the anchor they destroy huge reef parts.
Every visitor should be aware that its action has an impact
on nature and should respect the rules. |
