Rehabilitation of mangrove habitats as mitigation against impacts of coastal development on Saadiyat and Jubail Islands, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Summary

Grey mangrove (Avicennia marina) habitat around Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat and Jubail Islands was being degraded by large-scale coastal development, prompting the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and Barari Forest Management to launch a large-scale rehabilitation and planting program as development mitigation. Following aerial and field surveys in October 2009 that assessed tidal flats, bare formerly-vegetated areas and sparse mangrove stands against site-suitability criteria, the partners selected 16 plantation sites and sourced nursery-raised container plants donated from three private and government nurseries in Abu Dhabi. Implementation ran in three phases between November 2009 and December 2010: 69,615 plants in phase one, 430,385 in phase two, and 300,000 in phase three, for a total of 800,000 Avicennia marina seedlings planted in a 1x1 meter grid, each screened beforehand for at least 50 cm height and 3-4 cm root-collar diameter and transported by truck and boat through temporary holding nurseries. Plantings were timed to low tide, using trained labor crews, with quarterly post-planting survival monitoring at permanent randomly selected plots across all sites. Major difficulties included stormy and rainy weather, rough high tides, muddy working conditions, a limited planting season dictated by tide timing, and a shortage of trained labor. The project rates itself Successful, crediting careful site selection, quality planting stock, correctly timed low-tide operations, and regular monitoring as the key factors behind its results.