In seeking to reverse a global trend that equates tourism development and tourism related activities to environmental degradation, the Government of Egypt has declared Protectorates and established management of a large portion of Southern Sinai. The primary objective of this policy is to ensue that the resource vase is protected and that both habitats and their biodiversity are preserved. Damage to these natural treasures is due to actions that may appear to be perfectly normal but in fact can and do have serious consequences. For example, a swimmer, diver or snorkeller resting, standing or walking on a coral surface damages the fragile tissue surface of the coral animal. The coral is then open to bacterial attack and disease, and will often not recover from this impact.
Photographers often damage large coral reef areas in the pursuit of a single image.
They have been seen to break coral and rearrange the reef to improve the composition of the image. Such impacts will in time reduce the value of a coral reef, reduce its attractiveness and its ability to support the myriad life forms that would normally teem in this ecosystem. Boats anchoring on reefs areas will destroy 4-6m2 of reef surface each time they drop an anchor. Multiple diving vessels on a given mooring increases the density of divers at that particular dive site. Increased diver intensity reduces the attractiveness of the site and results in increased damage to reef surfaces.