Abu Dhabi ‘coral garden’: 40,000 artificial reefs to restore marine ecosystem
Abu Dhabi has initiated the largest coral garden project in the Middle East region to safeguard and rehabilitate marine biodiversity.
Dubbed as ‘Abu Dhabi Coral Gardens’, the project aims to construct coral gardens by placing 40,000 artificial eco-friendly corals over 1,200 square kilometers of the Emirate’s coastal and deep waters. The project will run from 2025 to 2030. The gardens will be placed in barren regions with no existing coral reefs or seagrass meadows to enhance marine life.
This step was taken by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) as part of the innovative solutions program directed towards marine ecosystem restoration. The artificial corals will be used to build reef skeletons in the agency’s nurseries’ coral cultivation centers, which will help to increase the local fish population.
The corals aid heavily in rebuilding damaged coral reefs as they can withstand high ocean temperatures which are constantly changing.
As claimed by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, this further enhances Abu Dhabi’s approach of adopting new and natural methods to aid in innovation biodiversity and enable sustainable economic growth.
In addition, he stressed that the project is vital to the protection of marine ecosystems, augmenting fisheries resources, and striking a balance between development and conservation.
Moreover, Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary-General of the EAD, also commented on the initiative. She emphasized that it seeks to provide sustainable solutions grounded in nature for the region. Besides the improvement of marine ecosystems she noted that the project will also enhance food security, boost ecotourism, and increase the attractiveness of diving spots.
The EAD explained that artificial reefs have been shown to attract marine animals at levels approaching three times greater than natural coral reefs, which have led to the production of over 5 million kilograms of fish per year and increased the resilience of the coastal region to climate change.
Abu Dhabi remains at the forefront in the region for research and development of artificial shorelines with 30 marine sites participating in eco-friendly design testing using seven prototypes. These initiatives strengthen the emirate’s claim as a pioneer in marine conservation worldwide.
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