Nakheel UN marine study has hopeful results

Nakheel head of environment Shaun Lenehan.

Nakheel has revealed the first results of an ongoing study into the impact of its coastal developments on surrounding marine ecosystems.

The study, which began two years ago, involved environmental monitoring carried out by the United Nations University’s International Network on Water, Environment & Health (UNU-INWEH) in cooperation with Nakheel.

According to all parties, the most encouraging results have been in the areas surrounding breakwaters at Nakheel’s coastal projects, which are developing into rocky reef ecosystems, with some coral growth beginning.

“We started this study in January 2007,” said UNU-INWEH assistant director Dr Peter Sale. “We can now start making assertions about the data we have collected.”

The results were revealed a day after it emerged that 1700 Bahraini fishermen have gone on strike claiming that the huge amount of coastal development over the last five years in the Kingdom has robbed them of 80% of their earnings.

The findings from the UNU-INWEH / Nakheel study are to be shared among other Gulf countries, and the rest of the world.

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bringing UNU to the Gulf, Nakheel has made a major strategic long term contribution to the way we manage the coast-lines in the Gulf, and that knowledge is going to be used for years.” Nakheel head of environment Shaun Lenehan told Construction Week.

“As a coastal developer we are building these projects that are filling up with fish but what we are learning about them we will give to the rest of the region.”

Nakheel Asset Management and Design and Development director Dr Rula Sadik said that Nakheel’s environment department has an outreach program with the Dubai fishing industry.

“We have many stakeholders on board, we exchange information, and we are hoping to expand this as we go,” she said.

The study is ongoing, and will develop further over the coming years. Results will be published by UNU-INWEH scientists in universally accessible technical literature.

“The next five years is going to add a wealth of knowledge and understanding, and the ability to form new policies and offer advice,” Sadik said.

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