THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS IN FORMULATION OF SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES FOR ARTIFICIAL ISLAND DEVELOPMENT: A QATAR’S ISLAND CASE

Abstract

Artificial island development (AID) worldwide to tackle rampant urbanization on scarce land puts entire marine biodiversity at huge risk. It is recognized as a global conservation issue in Europe, Gulf, and Asia. When it comes to the Gulf region, like other regions of the world, Qatar, a peninsular nation, has experienced expeditious economic and population growth that posed multiple environmental challenges, including coastal and marine environments degradation owing to intensive dredging and reclamation activities. This study critically reviews the gaps that undermined biodiversity and ecology during the construction activities of the artificial islands in the Gulf region, particularly Qatar. Recognizing the role of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in preventing environmental degradation associated with coastal and marine development, the present study investigated the effectiveness of EIA of Qetaifan Island North (QIN) in achieving ecologically sustainable development. In addition to the EIA, the methods used for this study were an analytical descriptive literature survey followed by quality assessment and an inductive approach to develop holistic strategies for the sustainable development of artificial islands. EIA tool was used to collect data before QIN Construction (March 2019), followed by the environmental monitoring tool to evaluate the impacts during construction activities (Sep-Nov 2020). Various key factors, including seawater and sediment quality, infauna habitat, infauna benthic species, and fish community, were analysed to assess the construction effects of QIN. Owing to apposite mitigation measures, adverse environmental impacts were significantly reduced, and most of the parameters complied with relevant standards. However, samples for turbidity values were beyond Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) standards at various locations. During construction phase, high turbidity (35.84 NTU), pH (8.57), Orthophosphate concentration (

Date of Award	2022
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Science and Engineering