Coastal projects add to eco-costs

(FILE)  

The authority currently spends more than Dh100 million a year to fund its coastal monitoring programmes through its Coastal Management Section, a senior Dubai Municipality official has said.

The monitoring programmes detect and remove marine pollutants and determining the level of oxygen content and concentration for marine life to meet international parameters.

But Dubai’s environmental mission will grow as a result of the boom in coastline developments, which have dramatically increased the emirate’s shoreline. The municipality will host the seventh International Summit on Coastal and Port Engineering this month, where impending environmental challenges will be discussed. The theme of the conference is “Best Practices in the Coastal Environment” and it will run for five days between February 24 and 28.

“It will be an important platform where international coastal and port engineers will exchange know-how and experience. We will be able to learn the best practices from some of the most industrialised countries,” said Hussain Nasser Lootah, acting director-general of Dubai Municipality, while announcing the conference yesterday.

Presentations at the conference will concentrate on practical applications, as well as managerial and environmental aspects of coastal and port engineering in developing countries.

Papers from UAE presenters will cover the marine environment issue of the Dubai Creek, coastal modelling of the emirate’s shoreline, generic impacts of large-scale structures on the coastline, marine forecasting and oil spill readiness.

It will also highlight the establishment of a statutory framework and institutional capacity for management of the coastal zone, future port expansion and sustainable dredging.

Current coastal projects in the Gulf region alone are estimated at more than Dh360bn and more coastal projects are coming up because of the commercial potential they offer.