Abstract
The United Arab Emirates is a small Gulf country with perhaps the fastest rate of infrastructure development anywhere. While there is legislation in place requiring environmental impact assessments (EIA) to be undertaken for all major projects, the speed and scope of development provides special challenges in devising and implementing ecological mitigation against the loss of habitats and biodiversity that this development engenders. This paper critically discusses mitigation strategies that have been attempted, and suggests mitigation strategies in the local context. It is hoped that this will assist both the environmental consultants involved in the EIA process and the competent authorities who issue development licences, to the benefit of the remaining native biodiversity of the area.
Highlights
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a relatively small country ( 83,600 km2) with coastline on both the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf
Mitigation of habitat loss may be achieved by land restoration, so that degraded areas can once again sustain habitats of conservation value (Vécrin and Muller 2003)
After re-establishment, the disturbance is minimised. Does this ensure that biodiversity loss is reduced, but it encourages the use of the natural flora in landscaping
Summary
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a relatively small country ( 83,600 km2) with coastline on both the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf. The human population has risen exponentially from an estimated 86,000 in 1961 (Environment Agency Abu Dhabi), and is expected to top five million during 2009 One consequence of this has been the extremely rapid emplacement of a modern infrastructure, including an extensive highway and road network, residential areas, shopping malls, golf courses, airports and industrial facilities. Prior to development starting in 2007, the area was of great interest in terms of its rich biological and habitat diversity It had high landscape value which gave a feeling of true wilderness, despite being so close to the major urban and industrial areas of Dubai and Jebel Ali (Gardner and Howarth 2007). The aim of this paper is to discuss possible mitigation options that have been proposed and, in some cases, implemented, in the hope that such suggestions and discussion may assist the EIA planning process in the UAE and other countries
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