DOHA: Qatar Foundation International (QFI) and Ocean for Life (OFL) will partner for marine conservation programmes in Doha as part of QFI’s cultural exchange programme in October, 2011, announced Maggie Mitchell Salem, Executive Director of QFI, at the closing ceremony of OFL’s summer programme in California.

OFL is an educational field study programme that brings together students from Qatar, the greater Middle East and Western countries to enhance cultural understanding through studying ocean conservation and science under the theme of “One World, One Ocean.”

“OFL is a unique and powerful cross-cultural programme that brings students together to learn about the ocean in a way that they also learn about each other,” said Jason Patlis, President and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation. Four Qatari students were selected to participate this summer in the 2011 Ocean for Life programme at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in California. Encompassing the ocean environment surrounding Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara Islands, the sanctuary protects a rich diversity of marine life.

The students who travelled to the US this summer are Noura Al Jurdi, Al Bayan Educational Complex for Girls; Essa A Al Malki, Doha Independent Secondary School for Boys; Nasser Marzook, Al Yarmouk Preparatory School for Boys; and Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, Doha Independent School.

The Peninsula