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Saudi Red Sea Authority, GEOSA Issue First Nautical Chart for Sindalah Island

Saudi Red Sea Authority, GEOSA Issue First Nautical Chart for Sindalah Island
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Saudi Red Sea Authority, GEOSA Issue First Nautical Chart for Sindalah Island

Saudi Red Sea Authority, GEOSA Issue First Nautical Chart for Sindalah Island

The Saudi Red Sea Authority (SRSA) and the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information (GEOSA) have collaborated to produce the first high-resolution paper and electronic navigational nautical chart of Sindalah Island in the NEOM region based on the latest international standards and in accordance with International Hydrographic Organization standards, in addition to producing four other maps of the NEOM region.
This collaboration was initiated by SRSA as part of its mandates, which include identifying navigation routes for marine activities within Saudi Arabia’s geographical scope, as well as developing and updating them in coordination with relevant entities to ensure environmental protection and preservation, SPA reported.
GEOSA has implemented the highest standards for producing and updating nautical charts, which include data on depths, coral reefs, islands, navigation hazards, and tidal information to enhance marine safety in Saudi Arabia’s coastal areas and to support smart decision making.
These charts provide reliable and secure geospatial marine data that will contribute to planning and development efforts in line with Saudi Vision 2030, facilitating investment attraction in coastal tourism while providing navigational data to ease the entry and exit of yachts and other watercraft to Sindalah and other islands. It also enhances marine safety and environmental protection by applying the highest security and safety standards through buoys and navigational aids.
The SRSA began its journey toward building and regulating the coastal tourism sector in 2021 to enhance integration between the relevant entities by issuing licenses and permits, developing the necessary policies and strategies, determining infrastructure requirements, preserving the marine environment, enabling investment, and promoting navigational and marine tourism activities, which will reflect as an added value to the national economy.
Meanwhile, GEOSA is working to regulate the surveying and geospatial information sector and related imaging activities in Saudi Arabia. This includes adopting and developing the national geospatial infrastructure, the national geodetic reference, national geodetic networks, hydrographic surveying, and providing data, products, services, electronic applications, topographic and aerial maps, and maritime navigation charts relevant to the sector.

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Taiwan Bounty Hunters Kill Invading Iguanas as Numbers Soar

This photo taken on February 10, 2025 shows bound iguanas captured by hunters on the ground in Pingtung. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
This photo taken on February 10, 2025 shows bound iguanas captured by hunters on the ground in Pingtung. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
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Taiwan Bounty Hunters Kill Invading Iguanas as Numbers Soar

This photo taken on February 10, 2025 shows bound iguanas captured by hunters on the ground in Pingtung. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)
This photo taken on February 10, 2025 shows bound iguanas captured by hunters on the ground in Pingtung. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP)

Armed with a slingshot, Taiwanese bounty hunter Wu Cheng-hua bends sideways and aims his lethal weapon up at a green iguana, one of tens of thousands in the crosshairs of a government cull.

Taiwan's iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced from Central and South America more than 20 years ago as exotic pets.

Many escaped, or were dumped, and have bred rapidly in the warm climate of the island's south, invading neighborhoods and ravaging farmers' crops, Agence France Press reported.

After Wu finishes his shift at a breakfast eatery, he joins a group of hunters hired by the Pingtung County government, which pays up to NT$500 (US$15) per iguana.

"Sometimes we've been lucky and caught 300 iguanas in a day," Wu, 25, told AFP.

"Sometimes we were not so lucky and caught two, three or a dozen."

Carrying harpoon slingshots used for spearfishing and wearing rubber boots, the hunters crane their necks as they scan the thick forest for iguanas, which live in the canopy.

There are more misses than hits as the men fire their stainless steel darts at the prehistoric-looking creatures high up in the trees and shielded by leaves and branches.

AFP journalists watch as an iguana plunges several meters to the ground and runs for its life. Another is shot multiple times before it is pulled out of the tree still alive.

The men bind the legs of the captured iguanas to stop them escaping and leave them on the ground as they carry on hunting.

Taiwan began culling iguanas nearly 10 years ago and this year's target has been set at more than 100,000.

Experts and government officials say the effort is unlikely to eradicate the reptiles.

Some estimates put Taiwan's green iguana population at 200,000. A female iguana breeds once a year, laying dozens of eggs at a time.

"Climate anomalies" have fueled iguana numbers in recent years, said Chen Tien-hsi, a wildlife expert at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology.

A lack of seasonal rain and unusually warm winters have increased hatching and survival rates of the young, which Chen said had created "a perfect storm for explosive population growth".

Pingtung County has ramped up its iguana cull from a few hundred a year in the beginning to 48,000 last year, Agriculture Department director-general Cheng Yung-yu said.

But Cheng said more effective "removal strategies" were needed.

"Despite significant manpower and resources being spent on their removal annually, their population continues to grow almost exponentially," he said.

Local farmer Cheng Hui-jung has watched iguanas decimate her family's red bean crop, even after they installed fishing nets to protect their fields from the herbivores.

The iguanas live in the dense bamboo growing between her land and a river, and come down during the day to feast on the red bean shoots.

"They move very fast and we couldn't catch them," Cheng told AFP, who worries some farmers will resort to cutting down the trees or give up planting crops altogether.

Regular people are being encouraged to get involved in the iguana cull.

Hsin Tseng-kuan said she was scared the first time she encountered an iguana on her farm and resolved to learn how to catch them.

"They're not even afraid of people," said Hsin, 58, one of more than 80 people taking part in a government training session where they are shown how to use a snare pole to lasso a soft toy iguana.

"When we first saw one, we were the ones who were scared," Hsin told AFP.

"It really looked like a small dinosaur."

Animal rights group PETA has urged Taiwan to find "non-lethal strategies" for controlling its iguana population or, if culling was deemed necessary, to "minimize suffering" of the creatures.

Several hunters told AFP they would be able to kill more efficiently and humanely if they were allowed to use air guns, the use of which is tightly controlled in Taiwan.

Wu and his colleagues end their hunt in the early evening after catching 14 iguanas in three hours.

The reptiles -- some of them alive and bloodied -- are laid on the ground before being tossed into a plastic box.

Hunters are required to euthanize the iguanas and keep them in a freezer until they can be incinerated by the government.

While hunting was physically harder than his cooking job, Wu said he liked helping farmers protect their crops.

"Otherwise, everything they grow will be eaten up," Wu said.

"It is very sad to see them like this."