Bahrain lacks land, so it s building more lavish artificial isl (1). docx
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(@RS IELTS) environmental consequences of dredging
Environmental consequences of dredging Scientists who have studied the history of the construction of artificial islands say there is reason to be concerned about the impacts of reclaiming land from the sea to build islands. Dredged material used to create reclaimed land often comes from shallow coastal waters, where seagrass beds provide food and protective nurseries for fish and other marine species, Sheppard says.Of the five new islands, the two largest are planned to be built on and named after the largest coral reefs in the Persian Gulf, Fasht Al Adhm and Fasht Al Jarim. The reefs are shallow, hollow- domed reefs that extend more than 40 square miles each across theGulf. They provide rich breeding grounds and vital marine habitats for hundreds of tropical species, including clownfish and stingrays. In 2000, a status of coral reefs across the Gulf publishedin the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network showed that years of sand dredging between 1985 and 1992 significantly damaged Fasht Al Adhm, the largest of the two. “Imagine burying a cornfield under three meters of soil and concrete. It will die,” says Sheppard. In Bahrain, the sand beds near Muharraq were used as popular dredging areas, resulting in 182,000 square meters of reef area being lost due to silt cover. Removing these sediments causes silt to flow directly onto the corals, “effectively burning and choking the coral polyps,” says Hameed Al Alawi, a Bahraini marine biologist and aquatic consultant. Mohammad Shokri, a coral scientist who worked on the Gulf reef study and a marine biology professor at Shahid Beheshti University in Iran, says continued dredging efforts also can increase turbidity and sedimentation around the reefs, causing further stress. “Efforts must focus on how to preserve what remains, as well as on active efforts on how to restore coral reef resources in the Gulf,” he says. Environmental impacts aren’t limited to reefs. Scientists concluded in a paper published last May in Science Direct that dredging for reclamation projects between 1967 and 2020 contributed to the loss of 95 percent of the mangroves in Tubli Bay, off Bahrain’s northeast coast, where luxury seafront homes have been built. Those changes translate into a significant loss in biodiversity and productivity, says Alawi. One environmental impact assessment conducted by the Bahrain Parliament and the Fishermen’s Protection Society (FPS) on land reclamation projects carried out between February 2008 and December 2009, showed a decrease in fish diversity from more than 400 species to less than 50. “This means people will not notice until the damage is done,” says Alawi, estimating another 10 percent loss with the new islands. Sheppard says reclamation projects in Bahrain and across the Gulf could have been managed differently, and used ecologically poor sites rather than ones rich with wildlife. “The sad thing is that much of the damage done could have been avoided,” he says. “There are several mitigation methods that could be used.” The Ministry of Works, Department of Fisheries, and the Supreme Council for the Environment, the government agency that licenses and approves land reclamation projects, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. In a statement on the council’s website, officials said the council’s reclamation and dredging monitoring program aims to verify that projects are built following environmental protocols outlined in licensing, and that barriers are erected around site operations to prevent proliferation of turbidity. Fish are migrating out to sea For fishermen in Bahrain, the decline of fish stocks has pushed them further out to sea, sometimes into fatal conflicts with neighboring states. Over the past decade , roughly 650 Bahraini boats were detained by Qatari coastal patrols for encroaching in their waters, with two ships recently detained last April. Others resort to riskier methods, like using illegal fishing equipment such as nylon wire traps and actively ignore fishing bans. “We understand that sand is like gold,” says Abdul Amir Al Mughani, director of the Fishermen’s Protection Society, which represents more than 500 fishermen. “But to us, reclamation is an attack on the sea.” PDF's generated at: Mon Sep 12 2022 07:22:21 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/bahrains- expansion-into-the-sea-threatens-fisheries Download 257.37 Kb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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