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Saudi Arabia Announces Discovery of Largest Sea Turtle Nesting Site in Red Sea

Sea turtles play a crucial role in the ecosystem, making their survival vital for maintaining environmental balance. (SPA)
Sea turtles play a crucial role in the ecosystem, making their survival vital for maintaining environmental balance. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Announces Discovery of Largest Sea Turtle Nesting Site in Red Sea

Sea turtles play a crucial role in the ecosystem, making their survival vital for maintaining environmental balance. (SPA)
Sea turtles play a crucial role in the ecosystem, making their survival vital for maintaining environmental balance. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia, represented by the General Organization for the Conservation of Coral Reefs and Marine Turtles in the Red Sea (SHAMS), announced the discovery of the largest sea turtle nesting site in Saudi waters, located at the Four Sisters Islands in the Red Sea.

In a statement on Saturday, SHAMS said this significant environmental discovery is part of ongoing initiatives aimed at boosting protection for sea turtles and their habitats in the Red Sea, ensuring their sustainability in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

On this occasion, CEO of SHAMS Dr. Khaled Isfahani confirmed that the Four Sisters Islands have been designated as a species management area to protect the turtles' nesting habitats. This step aligns with environmental goals and contributes to safeguarding biodiversity. These efforts are part of a broader plan to turn 30 percent of Saudi Arabia's land and sea areas into nature reserves by 2030.

The Four Sisters Islands—Marmar, Dahreb, Malathu, and Jadir—are renowned for their high concentration of sea turtle nesting sites. (SPA)

The Four Sisters Islands—Marmar, Dahreb, Malathu, and Jadir—are renowned for their high concentration of sea turtle nesting sites. To date, over 2,500 turtle nests have been recorded on these islands, establishing them as a crucial breeding ground for endangered sea turtles in the Red Sea.

Remarkably, the sea turtles consistently return to these same nesting sites each year, underscoring the vital need to preserve these areas for the survival of these species. Furthermore, the islands host an exceptional number of endangered green turtles and critically endangered hawksbill turtles, making them some of the most significant sea turtle nesting sites in the region.

Isfahani said the organization is currently developing a comprehensive management strategy to safeguard sea turtle nesting sites along the Red Sea coast. Thanks to the diligent work of SHAMS' environmental expert teams, over 180 nesting sites have been identified.

This discovery is part of SHAMS' mission to protect the unique marine life in the Red Sea. (SPA)

The plan also aims to boost sustainable tourism and entertainment opportunities around this unique marine ecosystem, he added. This initiative helps enrich the protected area and ensures that sea turtles continue to thrive in their natural habitats, promoting environmental sustainability.

This discovery is part of SHAMS' mission to protect the unique marine life in the Red Sea. Sea turtles play a crucial role in the ecosystem, making their survival vital for maintaining environmental balance. The effort aligns with the Saudi Green Initiative and Vision 2030, reflecting a national commitment to safeguarding Saudi Arabia's natural heritage and marine biodiversity.

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$344 for a Coffee? Scottish Farm is Selling UK's Most Expensive Cup

This undated handout photo shows farmer and owner of Mossgiel Organic Farm Bryce Cunningham, right, giving a bottle of milk to barista Jacob Smith, as they pose outside The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow, Scotland. (Mossgiel Organic Dairy via AP)
This undated handout photo shows farmer and owner of Mossgiel Organic Farm Bryce Cunningham, right, giving a bottle of milk to barista Jacob Smith, as they pose outside The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow, Scotland. (Mossgiel Organic Dairy via AP)
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$344 for a Coffee? Scottish Farm is Selling UK's Most Expensive Cup

This undated handout photo shows farmer and owner of Mossgiel Organic Farm Bryce Cunningham, right, giving a bottle of milk to barista Jacob Smith, as they pose outside The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow, Scotland. (Mossgiel Organic Dairy via AP)
This undated handout photo shows farmer and owner of Mossgiel Organic Farm Bryce Cunningham, right, giving a bottle of milk to barista Jacob Smith, as they pose outside The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow, Scotland. (Mossgiel Organic Dairy via AP)

It's an enormous price to pay for a little cup of coffee, but the man behind the pitch promises it won't leave a bitter taste behind as it comes with the sweetner of a share of a dairy farm.
A Scottish dairy is offering what it bills as the UK's most expensive cup o' joe: 272 British pounds ($344) for a flat white — a double shot of espresso topped with a layer of steamed milk and a fleeting work of foam art, The Associated Press reported.
The costly cup is actually a perk for purchasing shares in Mossgiel Organic Dairy's crowdfunding campaign to enlarge its sustainable operation and produce more milk. Investors who buy 34 shares in the farm get a certificate for a flat white that can be redeemed starting this weekend at one of 13 coffee shops in Scotland that use the dairy's milk.
“This coffee costs nearly 80 times the price of an average flat white in the UK — but it’s much more than just a lovely drink,” said owner Bryce Cunningham. "We know it sounds crazy, but when you break it down, it’s a pretty good deal. How much is the future of farming worth?”
The price tops the eye-watering 265 pounds that Shot London, a coffee bar in the posh Mayfair and Marylebone neighborhoods, charged for a flat white made with rare beans from Okinawa, Japan. The Telegraph reported in April that it was the most expensive coffee in Britain.
Before launching the coffee promotion, Cunningham had already raised more than a third of the 300,000 pounds he is seeking from small investors as he tries to get a 900,000 pound loan that will help him double operations and expand out of Scotland and as far as coffee shops in London.
Shareholders receive other rewards, too, such farm tours, milk delivery discounts and invites to special events. But investors are also given a standard warning that they could lose some or all of the money they invest — except for the coffee.
The tenant farm in Mauchline, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Glasgow, was worked in the 18th century by poet Robert Burns, who penned “Auld Lang Syne" and many other well-known works. Burns, who is considered the national poet of Scotland, wrote while working in the fields there for two years and his face graces each glass bottle of Mossgiel milk.
Cunningham, a former service manager for Mercedes-Benz, took over the operation in 2014 after his father and grandfather died in 2014 from terminal illnesses.
The collapse of milk prices that year and other problems forced him to sell off most of the herd and reinvent the business as an organic farm. He uses a process to “brew” the milk, instead of pasteurize it, that he said gives it the creamer taste and texture of raw milk without the health risks.
Todd Whiteford, one of the owners of The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow that is serving the costly cups, said they’ve been using Mossgiel's milk for several years. Despite “outrageous offers" from competitors to switch, he said other milk producers can't match the quality and consistency that makes for “rounder, smoother and sweeter” cappuccinos, lattes and flat whites — and better coffee art.
“Theirs is the best. I’ll argue with anyone about that,” Whiteford said.
Anyone who splashes out to buy a Mossgiel coffee, though, will be getting the same cup other Coffee Cartel customers can purchase for 3.10 pounds. But Cunningham says there will be a taste of virtue with every posh cup.