Study attributes habitat loss in Bahrain to reclamation and sand dredging
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
A study indexed by FAO AGRIS found that Bahrain's land area grew by 91 square kilometres through reclamation between 1963 and 2008. It attributes about 153.58 square kilometres of habitat loss to ten reclamation and dredging schemes.
- Bahraini fishermen — an association claimed reclamation took 80% of their fishing income; this is a claim, not a confirmed figure Arabian Business
- Marine habitats in Bahrain — about 153.58 square kilometres of habitat loss across ten schemes FAO AGRIS
What happened
A study indexed by FAO AGRIS found that Bahrain's land area grew by 91 square kilometres between 1963 and 2008 through reclamation.
The same study attributed about 153.58 square kilometres of habitat loss to ten reclamation and dredging schemes, and reported a greater effect from the areas where sand was extracted.
Arabian Business reported that a Bahraini fishermen's association claimed reclamation had taken 80% of fishing income, while the official position blamed reclamation together with overfishing.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: about 94 million cubic metres of sediment dredged for Palm Jumeirah in the UAE, burying coral and seagrass (headline not confirmed).
- None on record The sources reviewed do not name the reclamation developers or say who received the new land.
- Insufficient The 80% figure is an association's claim and is not independently confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Low fish stocks threaten Bahrain's fishing industryArabian Business ·