Page 56 - ADOC Sustainability Report

ADOC 2021 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

SEAGRASS

Seagrass is a highly productive ecosystem in the UAE as it
is essential to the conservation of Dugongs in Abu Dhabi,
home to the second largest population of dugongs in the
world. It is also home for green turtles and other commercial
fisheries such as penaeid shrimps and oysters. It is estimated
that 4,240 hectares of seagrass vegetation exists at Mubarraz
Island. Hail Shoal, a shallow reef shoal located 5 kilometers
south of Mubarraz Island, is also known to contain rich
seagrass habitats. We commissioned a specialist to undertake
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping of the Hail
Shoal seagrass ecosystem to document the spatial extent
and density, and to establish a greater understanding of the
temporal dynamics of seagrass distribution over the years.

The results indicate that the spatial extent of seagrass
remained fairly constant until 2016, generally covering an
area of approximately 250 ha. However, the available imagery
showed a drastic decline during 2017 to 2018 followed
by a rapid recover back to approximately 200 ha in 2018.
The total extent of areas classified as ‘’seagrass’’ was highest
in 2019, providing little evidence of any impacts from our
development. The 2020 imagery showed a continuous
recovery of the seagrass extent across Hail Shoal area.
Continuous monitoring will be undertaken to evaluate the
seagrass habitats across Hail Shoal and ensure the prevention
of degradation of this important ecosystem.

CORAL

The coastlines and islands of Abu Dhabi has approximately 310.66 km2 of coral reef associated habitat with 44 coral species listed
as either NT or VU by the IUCN. The predominant species include the boulder coral (Porites spp.) and branching coral (Acropora
coral – NE (IUCN). Coral forms critical habitat for various marine species including reef dwelling fish species and hawksbill turtle.
However, corals in the Emirate are significantly impacted by anthropogenic activities such as coastal development, dredging,
wastewater discharges, sedimentation, pollution, anchor damage, landfill, and discarded or lost fishing gear.
At ADOC, we are continually monitoring our impact on the coral reefs within our operating fields to ensure our activities are
causing no lasting impacts on this precious ecosystem. Temperature loggers were installed in 2014 and in 2016 coral transplanting
activities were undertaken with Taisei. We replaced and installed new temperature loggers around the identified locations
around Mubarraz Island. Due to rough sea and weather conditions, only few temperature loggers were managed to recover and
other has been washed away. Annual coral monitoring has been carried out in the fourth quarter of 2021 with the collaboration
of Mubarraz Team and Tawam crew. As a part of operational environmental monitoring programme, in 2022, we are planning to
conduct benthic infauna sampling across Mubarraz Island.

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