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                                                                                        By: Ben Smailley


The intensive construction of The Palm, Jumeirah has driven much of the marine life away from the site of the world’s largest man-made island, but efforts are now being made to bring sea life back through the creation of artificial reefs.

  When Dubai announced plans to build two gigantic islands in the shape of palm trees off its Jumeirah coastline, environmentalists naturally raised concerns about the impact such a massive development would have on the marine environment and the delicate ecosystems which exist under the surface of the Arabian Gulf.

  With the superstructure of the first of the two islands – The Palm, Jumeirah – now complete, developers Nakheel have begun the process of re-introducing life to the crystal blue waters surrounding what has been billed as ‘the eighth wonder of the world.’ The man-made island is surrounded by a crescent-shaped breakwater and, beyond that, artificial reefs are being installed to attract fish, lobsters and other marine life to create a thriving habitat where man and nature can co-exist.

  The sinking of a Boeing 737, a Russian fighter aircraft, a London bus and several ships has already begun to attract sea life back to The Palm, but a trial is set to begin of a new type of artificial reef system that is designed to ‘cultivate’ the seabed and further enhance the marine environment.

  Called the Runde Reef, it comprises a 2.5 metre high concrete core from which dozens of recycled polyethylene tubes sprout to create a large surface growing area of 250 square metres, as well as 340 metres of cavity inside the tubes. Once seaweed and other organisms begin to inhabit the structure, it is hoped fish and other sea life will be attracted by the protection it offers from larger predators and a whole new marine habitat will begin to develop.

  It has been developed by the Norwegian company Reef Systems and, following a successful trial in the Scandinavian country’s Nord Fjord, is being introduced to The Palm, Jumeirah by Kyodo International in conjunction with the Zayed International Prize for the Environment and support from the Emirates Diving Association.

  “It is a trial project to start with,” explains Kyodo International’s Vice President of Shipping, Dag Erik Nordlie. “At the end of November, we will install three of these artificial reefs outside the crescent of The Palm, Jumeirah and will monitor their progress until May 2005 when a seminar will be held to present the research data we have collected.”

  Kyodo International has hired a marine biologist from Sweden to monitor the progress of the reefs alongside scientists from the UAE University in Al Ain, and optimism remains high for the success of the project in Dubai.

  “The tests carried out in Norway involved installing these reefs in areas where there had been massive deterioration of the marine environment and after two years the difference was remarkable – you had micro-organisms coming back, you had fish, crabs, lobsters and the vegetation that is important for cleaning the sea – but Norway is a totally different environment from the Middle East,” Mr Nordlie says.

  “The sea here is very warm and salty, and becoming more salty because the slush from the desalination plants is returned to the sea. It also takes about seven years to change the water in the Arabian Gulf as there are very few rivers coming in and it has a narrow entrance at the Straits of Hormouz, whereas the Baltic Sea in Scandinavia takes only three years.

  “But I expect to see growth starting to form on the reefs within three weeks – there was a lot of growth on the Russian plane sunk outside The Palm within a month – and by May I would like to see something resembling three underwater palms trees with a lot of greenery and fish and shellfish around it, although I am not sure if it will actually be like that after six months as it took about two years for the reefs in Norway to reach that stage. But the scientists monitoring the progress there were very surprised and said the results were far better than they had expected.”

  The damage that man can do to the marine environment is something which Mr Nordlie has experienced for himself in his native Norway, which makes him even more eager to ensure the same thing does not occur in Dubai. He grew up in Oslo in the early 1950s at a time when the redevelopment of the city saw the construction of new suburbs and the introduction of flushing water toilets, but sadly the authorities decided to empty the new sewage pipes directly into the fjords.

  “Where I lived there were beautiful beaches, but within a few years you couldn’t go swimming there anymore. It took about 20 years to get the water quality back, so I have seen this firsthand and know how important it is to think this way and make sure something like that doesn’t happen here, which could easily happen if the marine life isn’t taken care of.”

  With luxury resort hotels and villas being built on The Palm, Jumeirah, the need to reintroduce marine life to the surrounding seas not only brings environmental benefits, but also the opportunity to create more interesting surroundings for the thousands of visitors and residents expected to stay on the island.

  “We believe that when you are promoting one of the most luxurious developments in the world and building million dollar houses, these people don’t want to have a sea outside which is sterile,” Mr Nordlie says. “They want clear seas inhabited by fish so they can go snorkelling and diving, but you wont get fresh sea unless you also have something living there - where there are fish, the sea is healthy.”

  Artificial reefs are not a new phenomenon – the first was no doubt created by the first ever shipwreck – but the Runde Reef, which takes its name from Runde Island on the west coast of Norway, offers a different approach to creating marine environments.

  “There were other companies involved in making proposals to Nakheel, but everyone else seemed to focus on coral reefs,” Mr Nordlie says. “Coral reefs are beautiful and important for the sea, but there are other things that are also important. The philosophy of our project is not specifically to go for coral but to actually enhance the environment in a broader way.

  “The idea is to cultivate the sea to see how we can improve the number of species of fish and other living things - just as you can cultivate the land, you can cultivate the seabed. It has been done for generations in other areas like Japan and China. From a commercial point of view, there will be more fish to catch and more lobsters, you will have nice places to dive which benefits tourism and, on top of that, you also have the environmental benefits.”

  The main advantage of the Runde Reef system is its ability to produce a large growing area in a relatively small space – an area covering five square metres produces a growing area of 250 square metres - and the reef can easily be moved and transported to a new location.

  “If you created an artificial reef from old car tyres, it would take hundreds to create a growing area of 250 square metres and it would be difficult to remove them afterwards. With these units you can just hook them on a crane and move them, so you could take one unit which has been in the sea for a year or so and move it to another place and then put another five or 10 bare ones around it so the habitat expands. You can also move a certain species from one area to another.”

  According to Mr Nordlie, the system is also more environmentally-friendly than another type of artificial reef being used in the Gulf – the ‘reef ball’ - which is essentially a concrete sphere containing a number of holes.

  “Things grow on it and so on, but it uses a lot of concrete to create a small growing area,” he explains. “Our system requires a fifth of the amount of concrete to create the same growing area and you would need to use a number of reef balls to achieve the same result, so that is where we feel we have the advantage.”

  Kyodo International is primarily a trading company specialising in the maritime industry, and the opportunity to become involved in marine conservation is viewed by Mr Nordlie as a means of ‘giving something back’ to the sea.

  “Most of our major clients are big shipping companies and we all make our livings from the sea, so when I heard about this project I thought ‘why not’. My philosophy is that this is a contribution from our side to the marine environment.”

  So long as the trial at The Palm, Jumeirah proves successful, it could also prove to be a viable commercial enterprise for the company which hopes to create ‘oases’ of artificial reefs throughout the Gulf, with interest in the project having already been shown from Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

  “They are aware we have started this trial project here and will be kept updated so they can decide if they wish to implement similar initiatives themselves,” Mr Nordlie says. “I would like to see it develop on a larger scale whereby all the production of the reefs will be done here in Dubai and local universities and other institutions will be able to take part in the studies so that it gives a lot back.

  "I call it a 'win-win situation' and hope to be able to make it a commercially viable venture from our side - it is not possible to calculate the return of investment on a dollar for dollar basis, but the next generation and the marine ecosystem will reap the benefit and that's the real turn on the investment."

   

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