The role of environmental impact assessment in the sustainable artificial island development: A Qatar?s Island case study

With the expeditious economic and population growth, trade, and tourism, artificial island development (AID) has gained interest in overcoming available land limitations in the past decades. The Arabian Gulf is characterized by extreme temperatures and high salinities and is home to diverse marine habitats comprising reefs, mangroves, swamps, and seagrass meadows. However, these ecosystems are witnessing stern pressure due to reclamation activities for AID. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) is extensively used globally to produce sustainable management standards. One such case of environmental concerns associated with the AID was focused on in this study is Qatar's island (QI). A comprehensive EIA was carried out before and during the construction activities. The analyses include meteorology, hydrodynamics, wave climate and bathymetry, seawater and sediment quality, infauna habitat and benthic species, and fish community. Results showed overall median turbidity levels recorded (5.39 NTU at buoy 1) and (2.46 NTU at buoy 2) were within the baseline survey (5.2 +/- 11.8 NTU). Before construction, Se and Ba levels were higher according to the sediment quality analysis; however, during construction, the levels were within acceptable ranges per Dutch requirements. In addition, strategic measures and guidelines were proposed, which can be opted for future developments.

Automated summary

With economic and population growth, artificial island development (AID) has become popular in overcoming land limitations. However, this study focused on the environmental concerns associated with AID in Qatar's island (QI). Extensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) was conducted, covering various aspects such as meteorology, hydrodynamics, sediment quality, and biodiversity. The results showed acceptable turbidity and sediment levels during construction, and strategic measures were proposed for future developments.