300 more of our favourite turtles hatched on Saadiyat Island this past year and Abu Dhabi Week was keen to see how these tiny adventurers fared amidst all of the development and construction

Saadiyat Island, in accordance with its development as part of Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, will boast a variety of impressive art destinations, luxury hotels and recreational grounds. One thing that isn’t often mentioned, however, is the wide variety of natural resources and wildlife that call Saadiyat home.

Hawksbill turtles, listed as a critically endangered species on the IUCN Red list, nest on a variety of islands across the UAE, including Saadiyat Island. The Emirates Wildlife Society-WWF programme director Lisa Perry says: “Protecting turtle nesting habitats is key for turtle conservation - this includes understanding the seriousness of their threats, like turtle-friendly lighting, pollution, fisheries by-catch, coastal development and habitat loss.” The Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) aims to do just that by providing stringent building restrictions and guidelines in Saadiyat’s development.

In order to help protect these nesting grounds, TDIC hosted an environmental impact assessment to look at “any significant impacts that development might have and put mitigation measures and management measures forward to reduce those impacts,” says TDIC environmental manager Millie Plowman.

Already working closely with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD), TDIC does all the actual monitoring but reports back to the EAD and keeps them abreast of their findings. By monitoring the conservation efforts, TDIC hopes to “establish a baseline so we understand what’s happening on the beach before the hotel guests arrive,” she says.

After a nest hatches, TDIC does a nest inventory in which they dig up the nest and count the number of eggs in the clutch that have hatched and count the number of eggs that didn’t develop. Plowman says there are usually around 90 eggs that hatch and around ten eggs that don’t develop. “We also look at how deep the nest hole was from the surface level - usually it’s around 40-50 centimetres down.”

Plowman is excited to announce that as the 2011 nesting season has just ended, TDIC can confirm that they have had over 300 eggs hatch. This year Saadiyat beach had around 20 or so different nesting activities all along the beach, with activity from the northern end extending all the way to the far western end.

She adds: “With very similar numbers to last year, it means our monitoring and management of construction activities is working.

Our aim is to ensure that all turtle eggs hatch safely and that the hatchlings make it to the water; this year’s successful hatching shows how our conservation plan is paying off, and we look forward to welcoming the turtles back next year.”
Environmental Protection

One of the keys to successful conservation in Saadiyat Island is enforcing stringent development requirements. Richard Hornby of Nautica Environmental Associates LLC says, “The turtle population in the Arabian Gulf is quite small and mostly on islands.

“Because it is possible to arrange a high level of control, this population has the potential to achieve high nesting success, which can benefit the entire Indian Ocean population.”

During the turtle nesting season, TDIC will implement restrictions across all of their projects and developments, including:

• Dune Protection Zone
  TDIC has moved all the developers off the beach itself and pushed them to develop 60 to 80 metres back from the actual beach. “In doing this we’ve preserved an area of natural dune that acts to keep development and construction impacts away from the beach and away from the turtles coming up to nest,” says Plowman.
• Lighting Guidelines
  When hatchlings emerge from the sand, they instinctively head towards the glow that comes off of the water’s surface. If there are other light sources or glows, the baby hatchlings may end up walking towards land instead of returning to the sea.
• During turtle nesting season, which occurs from early April until September, TDIC has put restrictions in place to avoid light glow. “We try and promote the use of a red-coloured light, which is less visible for turtles and stopping any lighting from shining on the dune zone or going out towards the beach,” says Plowman. TDIC is also working with the operators of the hotels to ensure guests are informed of the lighting impacts during the nesting season.
• Noise Restrictions
  Adult turtles come to the beach at night to lay their eggs. This is thought to happen due to the reduced number of predators at night. Noise also may deter mothers from coming up onto the beach to nest. “We’re monitoring construction works at night,” says Plowman. “The distance between the beach and the construction zones is the key to reducing noise levels and minimises noise quite effectively.”
• The Boardwalks
  In regard to future residents and guests at the hotels, access to the nesting grounds or dunes will be off limits. The dunes run along the back of the beach and it is here the hawksbill turtles come to nest. Instead, developers will build a series of elevated boardwalks which will take people across the dunes and onto the beach. “People will be allowed to walk the full length of the beach but to get back to the properties, they will have to use the boardwalks built over the dunes,” warns Plowman.
• Construction barriers
  To further implement these restrictions, construction barriers have been put in place to prevent developers from reaching the nesting grounds or accidentally building on them. “We’ve got very specific requirements of how people can access the beach during operation to prevent any impact to the protection zone of the dune.”
• Security Checks
  TDIC has also ensured that all construction sites are being inspected and audited on a daily basis. “We are making sure the contractors and developers are complying with our guidelines and requirements. We are also concerned about poaching so we are constantly making sure no boats come up to the shore. We have 24-hour security.”
• Awareness
  TDIC is keen for hotel operators to develop communications strategies to inform guests about the nesting grounds. “We are informing guests in their rooms about the site from when they arrive and we will have information in hotels and educational signage on the beach,” Plowman says. “In the future we are also hoping to run very small turtle tours and will certainly have strict controls in place to run well organised and managed access visits.”

Sawaiba Khan

Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas is scheduled to open later this year on Saadiyat Island. In addition to complying with TDIC’s environmental requirements, Park Hyatt is also an environmentally friendly hotel and is currently working towards a silver LEED certification, one of the strictest green standards a hotel can achieve.