ABU DHABI // It is 7am and, in contrast to the sleepy villas across the street, the mangrove swamps near Abu Dhabi's Eastern Corniche are teeming with activity.
Thousands of mud crabs scavenge the soft banks on the search for food. In the warm, nutrient-rich waters, schools of juvenile fish scoot by. Above, herons flit from tree to tree in slow, graceful flights.
In pictures: Mangroves under threat
Despite the prominence of the mangroves as one of Abu Dhabi's natural assets, they continue to be threatened by coastal and offshore development and dredging. Sylvia Razgova set out to visually document the impact of ongoing construction on the mangrove swamps.
"This is a fantastic natural asset right on the doorstep of Abu Dhabi," Mark Freeman says as he leads a group of kayakers through the channels.
Despite the prominence of the mangroves as one of Abu Dhabi's natural assets, they continue to be threatened by coastal and offshore development as well as dredging.
And while efforts are being made to replace the lost trees, the pace of change is such that it is hard to tell if this battle is being won or lost.
Richard Hornby, associate partner in Nautica Environmental Associates, a consultancy based in the capital, illustrates the context. He says Abu Dhabi's growth means coastline satellite images from even a year ago, such as those on Google Earth, are already inaccurate.
"The scale of the development is so rapid, it is inevitable there has been ecological damage," Dr Hornby says.
On the eastern side of Abu Dhabi, the development of Reem and Saadiyat Islands has had major implications. Since the start of work on Reem Island in 2005, more than half its mangrove area has been destroyed.
The development of the Eastern Mangroves Resort and Spa by the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) has brought further upheaval. Separately, a totally new island, Dolphin Island, has appeared, with work on the project starting about 2008 and continuing today. In addition, new channels have been dredged to make the area more accessible to boats.
In the waters west of Abu Dhabi, five or six islands have been built from waste material in recent years, Dr Hornby says. But the work that has had perhaps the largest impact on mangroves and other valuable habitats was the dredging of a new shipping channel to Musaffah.
The new projects change the patterns of water movement in the area, with some parts of the shoreline affected by erosion, and others by an abundance of sediment.
Mr Freeman points out the steep banks along a channel dredged in the swamp off the Eastern Corniche. "Two years ago, this started off being 30 feet wide. You see now it is 100 feet wide," he said.
Mr Freeman, who as the owner of Noukhada Adventure Company has guided kayakers through the coastal waters for the past three years, says erosion and excessive sediment endanger mangroves. With erosion, the shoreline is either washed away or becomes so steep that it obstructs the movement of water in and out of the mangrove area - something the trees need to survive.
The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) is working to stop erosion in some areas and to rehabilitate 5.4 kilometres of affected coastline. The project, which will cost up to Dh40 million, started four months ago, and is expected to finish within six months.
"If we had not done anything, our calculations show that in four years' time, we would have lost all mangroves in the area," said Thabit Al Abdessalaam, the director of the marine biodiversity management sector at EAD.
The environment agency and some developers are also planting hundreds of thousands of mangroves to compensate for the damage. According to Abu Dhabi regulations, any developer that destroys mangroves has to replant them with an area twice the size of what was lost.
TDIC said it had removed 7,000 mangroves on Saadiyat Island but replanted 400,000. About 1,000 mangroves were removed at the Eastern Mangroves area, but 60,000 were planted in compensation. The company has also provided more than 300,000 mangrove saplings for EAD's replanting efforts.
The developer Aldar could not provide information about the size of the natural mangrove area uprooted by its projects. The company said it had planted 150,000 mangrove trees at its Al Gurm development, in addition to 100,000 mangroves around Yas Island, donated by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler's Representative in Al Gharbia.
The developers at Reem Island were not able to supply information.
Some environmentalists have questioned whether the newly planted areas would be as valuable to wildlife as natural ones. For example, mangrove swamps that are too densely planted can leave no room for open mudflats. In nature, the two habitats benefit one another.
Dr Al Abdessalaam said these concerns are valid.
"There are some success stories, but like anything, there are success stories and those that do not work," he says. "To grow, mangroves require special attributes. Sometimes, it is not easy to find other areas where those can be provided."
Why do we need mangroves?
- They offer important habitat for rare birds, marine turtles and many species of invertebrates and fish.
- They protect the coastline from storms and other natural hazards.
- Like all trees, mangroves absorb carbon dioxide, an important function against global warming. Recent studies show that in terms of ability to absorb carbon, mangroves are just as important as tropical rainforests.
Source: Dr Thabit Al Abdessalaam, the director of the marine biodiversity management sector at the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi