Photo: © Hans Dietmann/Pixabay
Abu Dhabi’s coastal and marine areas, situated at the southern boundary of the Arabian Gulf, are an important biodiversity hotspot. The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) in 2020, completed a habitat mapping project that revealed the extent of various coastal and marine habitat classes. The habitats include hard bottom, consolidated bottom (at times with macro algae), oyster beds, corals, seagrass, mangroves, tidal-flats, salt marsh, sandy beach, rocky shorelines and coastal sabkha. These habitats support a wide variety of marine megafauna and fish.
Abu Dhabi is home to the second largest population of dugongs, four species of cetaceans (3 species of dolphins and one species of finless porpoise), and seven species of marine reptiles (four species of sea turtles and 3 species of sea snakes). In addition, at least 500 species of fish inhabit in Abu Dhabi coastal waters including commercially and ecologically important species. These habitats thrive in the naturally high levels of temperature and salinity stress, which is unique in a changing world climate.
Due to the above outlined stresses, critical coastal and marine habitats are declining and degrading. Considering the national and international obligations, the Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi has developed rehabilitation and restoration initiatives within its strategy and under Abu Dhabi 2030 plan. The main initiatives proposed in the flagship are: Recovery of fisheries, Restoration of mangroves and Restoration and Rehabilitation of coral reefs.
Biophysical activities: Increase diversity and vegetative cover in production system
IUCN Ecosystem biomes: Marine shelf biome; Shorelines biome; Brackish tidal biome
