Protecting the Arabian Gulf corals

On board were Qatari and Emarati scientists investigating coral habitats as part of a bi-national research project managed by the Emirates Wildlife Society with WWF - UAE.

It is often believed that that the Arabian Gulf is just a polluted puddle full of oil! This is a gross misconception. As Dr. Bernhard Riegl, principal investigator of the project clarifies, "The western UAE and Qatar waters are home to a rich and diverse coral fauna and well-developed reefs. There are about 35 reef-building coral species, which is about as much as found in the Caribbean."

Overlooked by researchers all these years, the Gulf coral reefs remained uncharted. It is only recently (January of this year) that a project on inventory and mapping coral reefs of Abu Dhabi and Eastern Qatar was launched under the sponsorship of Dolphin Energy Ltd. The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Supreme Council for Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR), Doha joined the project as partners.

The research is to span three years. By the end of 2007, it is expected that a complete map and assessment of reefs will emerge, on the basis of which, conservation and management programmes for coral ecosystems will be developed.

During the September 2005 cruise research teams visited 20 shoals, reefs and islands, with four teams making two diving trips per day - a total of 80 dives. What, specifically, was the purpose? "We assessed the coral cover, species diversity, and level of recruitment (i.e. how many coral babies)," explains Dr. Riegl. "Another purpose was to groundtruth the accuracy of maps that were developed by using satellite imagery. A third was joint training of Qatari and Emarati nature conservation staff."

Diving trips revealed that most of the offshore reefs and banks had coral growth. The best regeneration was observed on Halul island which, despite dense development as an oil facility, had excellent coral growth. The others with good growth were the islands of Sir Abu Nuair and Ras Ghanada as well as inside UAE's protected areas.

Project sponsor, Dolphin Energy Ltd. is implementing the Dolphin Gas Project designed to supply natural gas from offshore Qatar to the UAE. The company's support for the project stems from a concern about the gas project's impact on these coral habitats.

"Natural gas will be transported at the end of 2006," says Graham Rae, Vice President, QHSE at dolphin Energy. "There is coral around many areas where Dolphin facilities are being constructed. It is a vital part of our environment management programme that this coral is conserved and protected in every possible way for the benefit of future generations."