Gulf nations have been urged to form an environmental task force to address what a new study has described as "unprecedented” ecological disruption across the region caused by the Iran war.
The research, which considered the environmental effects of tanker strikes, port attacks and refinery explosions, said the Arabian Gulf’s “sensitive ecosystems” had been “severely impacted”, with fewer species in some areas as a result.
The UAE’s marine habitats face threats from toxic debris and oil spills, while noise may have disturbed marine life, according to Dr Devaraj Asir Ramesh of Anna University in Chennai, India, who compiled the analysis.
Iranian strikes on the Emirates, he said, were likely to have contaminated seagrass beds with hydrocarbons and caused auditory damage to cetaceans, which are sensitive to loud noise that travels through the sea.
He also said there could have been ecological harm from oil released by attacks on tankers at Fujairah.
“Oil spills, chemical leaks, and acoustic disturbances have impaired biodiversity, fisheries, aquaculture, desalination, and eco-tourism,” Dr Ramesh wrote in the International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Sciences.
United effort required
In the face of damage from conflict, he called for widespread efforts to strengthen natural environments across the Gulf through measures such as coral reef regeneration – which typically involves transplanting coral fragments onto the sea floor – at Musandam.
Other measures should include increased mangrove planting at Ras Al Khor in Dubai and the restoration of seagrass meadows off Abu Dhabi, Dr Ramesh said.
He suggested Gulf nations form an “ecological union” to coordinate efforts to restore their natural environments harmed by the conflict, which began at the end of February when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Dr Manjula Nair, an associate professor of chemistry in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, said a key concern was oil leakages that infiltrated Iran’s Siri and Qeshm islands, which have “vast coral reefs, mangrove forests and beautiful sandy beaches”.
“Ongoing military activities have made it difficult to contain these spills,” she added. “The consequences of oil pollution extend beyond marine ecosystems to water security.
“In the Gulf, where desalination is vital for meeting water needs, contamination of the raw seawater can compromise desalination plant performance and potentially disrupt freshwater production.
“When oil pollutes the sea, it doesn’t just threaten marine life, it puts every drop of clean water at risk.”
Doug Weir, director of a UK-based non-profit organisation, the Conflict and Environment Observatory, indicated that, compared to other conflicts, the scale of the damage from the current conflict remained poorly recorded.
There have been few reports from civil society, international organisations or national governments, and continued hostilities have hampered assessments, he said.
“Moreover, remote assessments based on satellite imagery have been hampered by restricted access to high-resolution satellite imagery,” he said.
Mr Weir said that, although a wide range of techniques were available to rehabilitate damaged areas, conflict-linked environmental harm often went unaddressed because, for example, affected countries lacked funds or did not prioritise efforts.
“In some cases, nature can recover relatively quickly – although what comes back may be very different to what was there before – but in many cases, particularly those involving landscape damage, or serious pollution, harm can last decades without often costly interventions,” he said.
In Kuwait, clean-up work after retreating Iraqi forces set fire to oil wells in 1991 was heavily delayed and it continues today, three and a half decades on.
Significant impact
Damage from the latest conflict has not been confined to the land and sea. There has also been “serious” air pollution, according to Dr Diana Francis, head of the Environmental and Geophysical Sciences Laboratory at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi.
She said the impacts “have been significant”, and the consequences in some areas could be long-lasting.
Although local smoke concentrations “can fall relatively quickly” once emissions stop, airborne particles can travel and persist for days or weeks.
“The environmental consequences can last much longer,” Dr Francis added. “Rain removes some pollution from the atmosphere, but transfers it to land and water.
“Persistent contaminants can remain for years, and contaminated dust can become airborne again. A clearer sky therefore does not necessarily mean the environmental damage has ended.”
Dr Francis said published satellite observations “have detected a clear signal attributed to specific events during the war,” including spikes in sulphur dioxide concentrations.
In her lab, Dr Francis and her colleagues are comparing pollution levels for particular months since the conflict began to the same months before the war to gain a more detailed understanding of the conflict’s effects.
