THERE was some cracking news for environmentalists this week after the first Hawksbill turtles hatched successfully on Saadiyat island.
Over 40 baby turtles emerged from the nest – located between Saadiyat Public Beach and Monte-Carlo Beach Club – and made their way safely back to the sea, after being monitored and protected as part of an extensive conservation programme for the endangered creatures.
The programme is run by Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) and their Environmental Services team was delighted with the latest arrivals on the island.
“We are very excited that the eggs – which are from this season’s first batch – have hatched safely,” said Dr Nathalie Staelens, head of Environmental Services at TDIC. “After being alerted by security guards at Saadiyat Public Beach, we observed them and helped guide some hatchlings safely to the sea. They were confused because the nest was a bit farther away from the shoreline than usual.”
The Saadiyat Beach plays host to several Hawksbill turtle nests every year. Once a nest is identified, steps are taken to ensure its safety and the security of its hatchlings under TDIC’s Hawksbill Turtle Conservation Programme. Since the start of the programme in early 2010, some 650 eggs have hatched successfully on Saadiyat.
Operational guidelines further protect the nesting sites by restricting beach access to pedestrians who reach the beach from elevated boardwalks, to prevent people from walking through the delicate dune system and potentially disturbing the nests.
TDIC has taken additional steps to ensure the protection of Saadiyat’s coastal dune system and the safety of the hawksbill turtles – listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
Among them, restricting resort development on Saadiyat Beach to at least 60 metres from the seaward edge of the coastal dunes, creating a buffer zone between construction and operations and the Saadiyat Dune Protection Zone nesting beach. This ensures that the turtles continue to nest even during the construction and operations of projects on the island.
