The 27 km coastline of Jordan is similar to the coastline of Israel. There is a discontinuous series of fringing reefs with a narrow reef flat, less than 150 m wide, and a very shallow lagoon and back-reef. The reef front drops rapidly to several hundred meters. Port construction has replaced much reef area, and now tourism development is causing damage through solid waste and sewage pollution. The Aqaba Marine Nature Reserve is not actively managed, but is legally protected.
Destructive fishing is illegal, and coral collecting and spearfishing are forbidden.
The area is the focus of the proposed Red Sea Marine Peace Park. Kuwait Kuwait has very limited reef growth, not exceeding 4 km 2 . Isolated corals grow on rocky outcrops, and there are some reefs around offshore cays. Oil pollution and sedimentation cause the largest impacts, and many reefs were impacted during the Gulf War, with some long-term effects of oil pollution. Sewage, outbreaks of sea-urchins, and damage from anchors are other problems.