UNESCO DOHA OFFICE

Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg

NCWCD

Protecting the Gulf’s Marine Ecosystems from Pollution

Abdulaziz H. AbuzinadaHans-Jörg BarthFriedhelm KruppBenno BöerThabit Zahran Al Abdessalaam

Editors

BirkhäuserBasel · Boston · Berlin

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007939809

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Bibliothek

detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at <http://dnb.ddb.de>.

ISBN 978-3-7643-7946-9 Birkhäuser Verlag AG, Basel – Boston – Berlin

The publisher and editor can give no guarantee for the information on drug dosage and adminis-tration contained in this publication. The respective user must check its accuracy by consulting other sources of reference in each individual case.

does not imply that they are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations or free for general use.This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the materi-

-

any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained.

© 2008 Birkhäuser Verlag AG, P.O. Box 133, CH-4010 Basel, SwitzerlandPart of Springer Science+Business MediaPrinted on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF Printed in GermanyCover illustrations: From left to right: crab holes of Nasima dotilliformis (photo: Thomas Höpner), Pocillopora-reef at Karan Island, Saudi Arabia (photo: Friedhelm Krupp), oiled saltmarsh in the Jubail area (photo: Thomas Höpner), coral-reef near Karan Island, Saudi Arabia (photo: Hans-Jörg Barth)

ISBN 978-3-7643-7946-9 e-ISBN 978-3-7643-7947-6

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 www.birkhauser.ch

Abdulaziz H. Abuzinada Hans-Jörg BarthKhaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation Department of GeographyP.O. Box 69428 Ruprecht-Karls-UniversitätRiyadh 11547 HeidelbergKingdom of Saudi Arabia Im Neuenheimer Feld 348 69120 HeidelbergFriedhelm Krupp GermanySenckenberg Research Institute and National History Museum Benno BöerSenckenberganlage 25 UNESCO60325 Frankfurt a.M. DohaGermany 66 Lusail Street – West Bay P.O. Box 3945Thabit Zahran Al Abdessalaam Doha, QatarMarine Environment Research CentreEnvironmental Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD)P.O. Box 45553Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates

Contents

List of contributors…………………………………………………… VII

Editorial………………………………………………………………. IX

Preface by H.R.H. Prince Turki Bin Naser Bin Abdulaziz ...………… XI

Foreword by Walter Erdelen, UNESCO ……………………………... XIII

Foreword by Yousef Omair bin Yousef, CEO, ADNOC………………… XV

H.-J. Barth and N.Y. Khan Biogeophysical setting of the Gulf ...………………………………… 1

G. Brown, B. Böer, S. Sakkir The coastal vegetation of the western and southern Gulf - characterisation and conservation aspects ..……………………….…. 23

F. Krupp and A.H. Abuzinada Impact of oil pollution and increased sea surface temperatures on marine ecosystems and biota in the Gulf …………………………….. 45

N.Y. Khan Integrated management of pollution stress in the Gulf ………………. 57

H.N. El-Habr and M. Hutchinson Efforts of regional and international organisations in reducing levels of pollution in the Gulf ………………………………………… 93

A.M.M. Al-Janahi Oil pollution preparedness in the ROPME Sea Area ………………… 107

R.A. Loughland and B. Saji Remote Sensing: A tool for managing marine pollution in the Gulf …………………………………….………………….…… 131

ContentsVI

K. Zainal, H. Al-Sayed and I. Al-Madany Coastal pollution in Bahrain and its management …………………….. 147

R. Facey Pollution from sea based sources ……………………………….…….. 163

S. Lattemann and T. Höpner Impacts of seawater desalination plants on the marine environment of the Gulf .……………………………………………… 191

F. Al-Yamani Importance of the freshwater influx from the Shatt-Al-Arab River on the Arabian Gulf marine environment .……………………... 207

S.M. Al-Ghais and W.H. Pearson The compensation schedule approach for the assessment of oil spill damages to marine resources of the RSA .……………………………. 223

D.A. Jones, M. Hayes, F. Krupp, G. Sabatini, I. Watt and L. Weishar The impact of the Gulf War (1990 – 91) oil release upon the intertidal Gulf coast line of Saudi Arabia and subsequent recovery …. 237

H.-J. Barth Rapid assessment indicators of oil spill recovery in salt marsh ecosystems ………………………………………………….…............ 255

T. Höpner and K.A. Al-Shaikh Shoreline bioremediation after the 1991 Gulf War oil spill …………. 265

L. Weishar, I. Watt, D.A. Jones and D. Aubrey Evaluation of arid salt marsh restoration techniques …………………. 273

Abbreviations …………………………………………………………. 281

Index ………………………………………………………………….. 283

List of contributors

Abuzinada, Abdulaziz H., Board Member - Special Advisor, Khaled Bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, P.O. Box 69428, Riyadh 11547, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; e-mail: prof_abuzinada@hotmail.com

Al Abdessalaam, Thabit Zahran, Director, Marine Environment Research Centre, Environmental Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD), P.O. Box 45553, United Arab Emirates.

Al-Ghais, Saif M., Biology Department, Faculty of Science, UAE University, AlAin, P.O. Box 17551, United Arab Emirates; e-mail: alghais@emirates.net.ae

Al-Janahi, Abdul Munem Mohamed, Marine Emergency Mutual Aid Centre (MEMAC), P.O. Box 10112, Kingdom of Bahrain; e-mail: memac@batelco.com.bh

Al-Madany, Ismail, Public Commission for the Protection of Marine Resources, Environment and Wildlife, P.O. Box 32657, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; e-mail: bmcftpw@batelco.com.bh

Al-Sayed, Hashim, Biology Department, University of Bahrain, P.O. Box 32038, Kingdom of Bahrain; e-mail: halsayed@sci.uob.bh

Al-Shaikh, Khalid Ali, Jubail Marine Wildlife Sanctuary, National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD), P.O. Box 61681, Riyadh 11575, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Al-Yamani, Faiza, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 1638, Salmiyah-22017, Kuwait; e-mail: fyamani@kisr.edu.kw

Aubrey, David, Woods Hole Group, 81 Technology Park Drive, East Falmouth, MA 02536, USA

Barth, Hans-Jörg, Department of Geography, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 348, D-69120, Germany; e-mail: hjbarth@gmx.net

Böer, Benno, UNESCO, Doha, 66 Lusail Street - West Bay, P.O. Box 3945, Doha, Qatar; e-mail: b.boer@unesco.org

Brown, Gary, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, AAD, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait; e-mail: gbrown@safat.kisr.edu.kw

El-Habr, Habib N., Director and Regional Representative UNEP Regional Office for West Asia, P.O. Box 10880, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain; e-mail: Habib.elhabr@unep.org.bh

Facey, Roy, Port Development Adviser, Yemen Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation, Aden, Republic of Yemen, e-mail: royafacey@yahoo.co.uk

List of contributors VIII

Hayes, Miles, Panion Ltd, 1119 Park Street, Columbia, Sc. 29202; e.mail: mohayes@yahoo.com

Höpner, Thomas, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universitaet Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11, P.O. Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany; e-mail: thomas.hoepner@icbm.de

Hutchinson, Melanie, Associate Programme Officer, UNEP Regional Office for West Asia, P.O. Box 10880, Manama, Bahrain; e-mail: Melanie.hutchinson@unep.org.bh

Jones, David Alan, P.O. Box No: 443, Ctra. Cabo La Nao (Pla) 124-6, 03730 Javea, Alicante, Spain; e.mail: wendavjones@terra.es

Khan, Nuzrat Yar, Sustainable Development Study Centre, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan, e-mail: nuzrat1600@yahoo.ca

Krupp, Friedhelm, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt a.M., Germany; e-mail: F.Krupp@senckenberg.de

Lattemann, Sabine, Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky Universitaet Oldenburg, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Str. 9-11, P.O. Box 2503, D-26111 Oldenburg, Germany; e-mail: sabine.lattemann@icbm.de

Loughland, Ronald, A., Centre of Environmental Research, Emirates Heritage Club, P.O. Box 108444, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; e-mail: ronloughland@gmail.com

Pearson, Walter, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 45553, Abu Dhabi, (formerly ERWDA), United Arab Emirates

Sabatini, Gino, GS Consultants, 7054 D´Ibervillle,Montreal,Canada H2E 2Y4;e-mail: ginosabatini@yahoo.com

Saji, Baby, Wataniya Environmental Services Co., Dar Al-Awadi Complex, Sharq, P.O. Box 27781 safat, 13135 Kuwait; e-mail: sajimathewvk@hotmail.com

Sakkir, Sabitha, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, P.O. Box 45553, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Watt, Iain, IOMEC, Nelson Road, Grand Gaube, Mauritius; e-mail: iainwatt@intnet.mu

Weishar, Lee, Woods Hole Group, 81 Technology Park Drive, East Falmouth, MA 02536, USA; lweishar@whgrp.com

Zainal, Khadija, University of Bahrain, Biology Department, P.O. Box 32038, Kingdom of Bahrain; e-mail: kzainal@sci.uob.bh

Editorial

In recent decades, and especially during the last few years, coastal development in the Gulf countries accelerated tremendously due to significant increase in oil related income and economic diversification strategies. Rapid expansion of industrial complexes, exceptional increase in private real estate investment, tourism and service industries, high birth rates and influx of foreign labour, accompanied by prospering economies, resulted in an enormous human population growth in the Gulf’s coastal areas. This development does much to further the well-being of the people and it also leaves severe impacts on the terrestrial, coastal and marine environment. These have changed - and not always for the better. Large areas of the coastal zone including important marine habitats are currently threatened by increasing stress on the Gulf ecosystem, and pollution plays a major role.

However, it is exactly this ecosystem that people depend upon directly and indirectly. It serves as resources for fishing, recreation, urban development and probably most importantly, as a major source of freshwater via desalination plants.

Although public awareness of environmental issues has grown significantly during the last few years, the scientific information base currently available is inadequate. Informed decision making on resource use, regional planning and adequate environmental impact assessment procedures need scientific documentation and analysis of the different types of pollution and their effects on the coastal and marine environment. It is essential to generate knowledge and technologies on how to prevent and minimize adverse impacts based on the different types of pollution.

The first comprehensive monograph, which addressed the ecosystem health and sustainability of the Gulf (Khan et al. 2002), was sponsored by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and published by the Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society (AEHMS) in 2002. Following this landmark publication, several international workshops were held in 2005 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to look into issues of coastal zone management. In a next step the United Arab Emirates University together with AEHMS organized the first international conference on “The State of the Gulf Ecosystem: Future and Threats”, which was held in Al Ain in March 2006 and focused on the problems confronting the Gulf ecosystem and environmental management. The growing attention of the scientific community towards the coastal and marine resources of the Gulf is reflected by the participation of leading environmental experts from 29 countries. A selection of the papers presented at this conference has recently been published in “Aquatic Ecosystem Health & Management“.

EditorialX

Apart from these efforts, a shared vision of a healthy and sustainably managed Gulf ecosystem is still lacking in most of the coastal states. Since both pollution and biota transcend political boundaries, an integrated management of pollution stress on a Gulf-wide basis is an imperative for the Gulf nations. This is a very difficult task which lies ahead of us and with this in mind, UNESCO decided to produce this science-based book on pollution management in the Gulf. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) generously sponsored this project which was carried out in cooperation with the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development (NCWCD), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The contributions of 28 authors aim at locating the gaps and obstacles, which are currently preventing an effective, transboundary management of the marine and coastal resources and present recommendations of how to improve the situation.

This multidisciplinary book on pollution and its mitigation in the Gulf could not have been completed, without the enthusiastic participation of the experts authoring the various chapters. We therefore offer our sincere thanks to all the ladies and gentlemen, listed as authors of this book. We wish to express our gratitude to the referees who, with their expertise helped to improve the manuscripts. We also thank the Birkhäuser Verlag for their support, flexibility and professional way of handling the publishing process. Special thanks are due to Dr. Hans Detlef Klüber and Karin Neidhart. Finally it gives us great pleasure to express our thanks to ADNOC for their partnership, essential for the publication of this book.

We trust that this volume will prove useful to scientists, students, environmental managers and decision makers in understanding the urgent need of “Protecting the Gulf’s marine ecosystems from pollution”.

The Editors

Preface

The countries of the Arabian Peninsula have undergone a remarkable process of development and social transformation. This has led to increased rates of transport, industrial development, and consumption of water, food, and goods, which in turn, led to significantly increased rates of environmental pollution. Regional conflicts have also taken their toll and contributed to environmental pollution. For example, the 1991 Gulf War Oil Spill, the biggest known marine pollution event in human history, has occurred in the waters of the Gulf. Moreover, the Gulf is the busiest area in the world in view of maritime oil shipment, and one of the undesired consequences are frequently occurring oil spills, and their impacts on the marine and coastal ecosystems, as well as on the fishing and tourism industry.

Wind often blows land-based rubbish towards the sea, and it normally accumulates in the inter-tidal zone; driftwood on the ocean’s surface, as well as all floating trash also eventually accumulates in the coastal zone. This has led for some beaches in the Gulf to be heavily polluted with garbage. Such a development is not only unsightly, but also prevents certain marine organisms, such as turtles, for example, from landing on the beach. It also contributes for waterfowl and other creatures to get entangled in plastic snares and ropes, and exposes them to a slow and painful death: starvation. The situation under the water surface is not much better: environmentally concerned divers routinely clean the sea-bottom from rubbish and ghost-nets, often with dead marine organisms entangled in them, such as dugong, dolphin, whale, turtle and fish. Since decades the environmental groups are organising beach clean up campaigns, as well as dive-clean-up campaigns.

Then there is chemical pollution affecting salt marshes and mangroves, coral reef and seagrass-beds as well as other ecosystems. The waters adjacent to the numerous desalinisation plants are exposed to thermal pollution and an increase in seawater salinity levels, even if locally confined. Additionally there is obvious air pollution, and a number of different other types of pollution. Even nuclear pollution of marine sediments has been reported.

The people of Arabia depend on and care for the coastal and marine ecosystems, as an integral part of their heritage, and it is also an important source of fish, and seafood. Seawater as an absolutely essential raw material for human living, since it provides most of the region’s drinking and industrial water via desalinization plants. It cannot be underlined enough just how important the marine ecosystems are in view of freshwater security, food security, transport and

Preface XII

recreation, and that we have got to manage them at the highest possible professional level, and keep them intact. Due to the wisdom of several of the region’s political leaders, environmental research, education, legislation, and conservation bodies were established in the region, in order to combat adverse environmental impacts, and to try and guarantee the conservation and sustainable development of the country's natural heritage. However, the current rate of pollution seems to be a challenge. A concerted cross-border action is required, together with the necessary legislation, and an implementation strategy. It is UNESCO who has initiated a process of bringing together the riparian countries in the Gulf in order to jointly address and discuss cross-border environmental coastal and marine issues. The process is being supported by UNEP and ROPME, and it is slow but steady ongoing, and it will include dealing with pollution.

This volume is a comprehensive introduction towards the understanding of coastal and marine pollution in the Gulf. It will inspire the reader, whether on the researcher level, the layman level, the level of the decision maker and politician, or the level of the industrial developer, towards the initiation and the enhancement of ecosystem management practices in view of pollution. We are certain that this scholarly work is a meaningful contribution documenting the numerous pollution-related problems, and that it offers guidance on how to minimize adverse impacts and how to keep our environments clean. We also hope that environmental managers will be inspired and keep working even harder to combating coastal and marine pollution in the best interest of the people living in the Gulf.

We thank the UNESCO Doha Office in Qatar for their initiative, we thank the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ADNOC in the United Arab Emirates for their commitment and support, and we also thank the Saudi Arabian National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development for their leading role in producing this publication. Furthermore we convey our sincere respects and thanks to the editor’s and the experts for their enthusiastic and professional work that led to the production of this highly valuable contribution, which we warmly welcome.

HRH Prince Turki Bin Naser Bin Abdulaziz, President, PME Chairman, Council of the Arab Ministers of Environment

Foreword

Protecting the Gulf’s Marine Ecosystems from Pollution has been produced in cooperation between the National Commission of Wildlife Conservation and Development of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and UNESCO, with support from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.

Sustainable living in the Gulf is dependent upon resources provided by the sea. Marine and coastal ecosystems are essential for the continuous supply of freshwater, seafood and for other ecosystem services.

However, some of the world’s largest landfill and dredging projects are found in the coastal areas of the Gulf, and the open sea contains the world’s main crude oil shipping routes. Marine pollution, therefore, is one of the undesired factors that accompanies this development. A variety of human impacts are contributing to marine pollution, such as oil, sediments, waste, thermal, chemical, noise, and other forms of pollution. Oil spills are of major concern, and more recently, as mentioned, coastal dredging and landfill.

In the long term, systems that provide primary productivity, such as seagrass beds, macro-algal reefs, phytoplankton communities, mangrove forests, salt marshes, cyanobacterial mats, and coral reef communities are crucial for the functioning of the marine ecosystems in the Gulf. Even more important, the seawater is of direct concern for freshwater security, because most of the drinking water for people comes from the sea, in an area with the highest density of desalinization plants in the world.

Scientific research into the natural ecosystems will be very important in order to have the necessary knowledge base to enable us to carry out coastal and marine engineering projects with limited adverse environmental impacts. It will also be particularly useful in decision-making for addressing any form of marine pollution, with a special view to food and water security.

Even though the regional organizations ROPME and MEMAC, intergovernmental organizations such as UNESCO, UNEP, and IMO, national environmental agencies, ministries, authorities, universities, a number of NGOs, as well as health, safety, and environment departments of private sector companies, are dealing with the subject of combating marine pollution, the science-based management of ecosystems and the maintenance of intact ecosystems and clean water are very difficult tasks that lie ahead.

It is with this in mind that UNESCO decided to pursue the request of the National Commissions for Education, Science, and Culture of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the

ForewordXIV

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, to produce a science-based book on pollution management.

I express my sincere thanks to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for their generous sponsorship, and to the National Commission for Wildlife Conservation and Development in Saudi Arabia for their cooperation. I congratulate the authors and editors of this new scientific volume for their important contribution to combating marine pollution, which I am sure will be warmly welcomed.

Walter Erdelen Assistant Director-General, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO

Foreword

It is my honor to present to you the new science-based publication “Protecting the Gulf’s Marine Ecosystems from Pollution”, coordinated by the National Commission of Wildlife Conservation and Development NCWCD, Riyadh, in conjunction with UNESCO, supported by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ADNOC. The project was initiated by UNESCO Doha, based on suggestions from the UNESCO National Commissions in the Gulf.

The coastal areas in the Gulf are rapidly developing, with some major coastal engineering projects emerging. The development has positive, and also negative aspects, and marine pollution is one of them. Sustainable human development depends on the efficiency and ability to provide reliable information, based on environmental data and human activities. Therefore it is advisable to keep abreast of progress in environmental sciences, environmental education, and social transformation. It is essential to scientifically document and analyse the different types of pollution and their effects on the environment, and to generate knowledge and technologies on how to prevent and minimize adverse impacts based on pollution.

The marine and coastal zones are an integral part of the natural and cultural heritage of the maritime countries in the Gulf. Extensive inter tidal and marine ecosystems exist here, with a broad variety of habitats and biological diversity. In the past, today, and in the future, the people here depend on the marine and coastal resources. In a functionary sense the ecosystems via desalinization plants, provide drinking water for the local inhabitants, and as well serve as areas for recreation, fishing, urban development, and transport. These resources are essential for the continuous supply of freshwater, fish, crustaceans, for marine primary productivity, and for ecosystem functioning. Therefore, the marine and coastal resources have to be dealt with the greatest care and sensitivity.

Together we have to try and continuously guarantee maximum benefit for the human population, based on intact and healthy environment. The benefits include the protection of the human population from environmentally caused diseases, as well as the development of environment-based jobs and income.

ADNOC is fully aware of the importance of the ecosystems biotic and abiotic components, and it is with this in mind that ADNOC decided to support this book publication “Protecting the Gulf’s Marine Ecosystems from Pollution”. The reader will learn from the articles in this publication, about the existing threats of pollution that exist in the region, and methods of pollution management. Improving the knowledge of environmental managers, researchers, administrators,

ForewordXVI

and decision makers, will contribute towards improvement of environmental management in the Gulf.

We congratulate the authors for their excellent work, and we hope it will inspire the environmental agencies and stakeholders in the region to continuously work together towards professional environmental management.

Finally we thank the NCWCD and the UNESCO Regional Office in the Arab States of the Gulf for initiating this activity, and for their professional partnership, and we thank the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi, the University of Heidelberg and the Senckenberg Research Institute for logistic support, and last not least the authors for their excellent contributions.

Yousef Omair bin Yousef Secretary General of the Supreme Petroleum Council Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).