Off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) dozens of corals cling to a dinner-table-sized section of metal mesh, which is pinned to the sea floor.
As they bob ever so slightly with the current, Hamad Al Jailani, a marine scientist with the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, who is clad in scuba gear, grabs one of the corals and inspects it. He shows a camera person how the corals – a collection of tiny, heat-sensitive animals – are holding up in the bath-tub warm waters of the Gulf.
Al Jailani’s dive is part of an effort with potentially deep implications for the future of the world's ocean and the health of its interconnected blue ecosystems. The Abu Dhabi Environment Agency is studying the heat tolerance of local corals, some of which have survived two major marine heatwaves in recent years. The agency is pursuing a hopeful hypothesis: if fragile corals can thrive in the Gulf, the world’s hottest sea, then maybe they can survive climate change in other parts of the world.
The research comes as climate change overheats the ocean, imperilling corals. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that 1.5°C of global warming threatens 70-90 percent of corals with extinction. If temperatures rise 2°C, 99 percent of these undersea cities could disappear. As reefs support one-quarter of all marine life, this poses serious threat to communities who rely on the ocean for their livelihoods and food security.
“What corals are able to handle here, might be what corals around the world will have to deal with as the climate heats up further,” said Al Jailani. “It’s extremely important to understand how these corals are able to withstand these conditions and try to apply it to other places around the world.”
The coral rehabilitation project launched in 2021 is part of multifaceted restoration efforts by the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency that also encompasses steps to rebuild fish stocks as well as the coastal ecosystems that sustain them.
The initiative has been recognized as an inaugural World Restoration Flagship under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global push to halt and reverse environmental degradation and encourage human activities that nurture and enhance nature.
“Restoring habitats gives nature a chance to adapt, and hopefully recover, from the climate change impacts we sadly can no longer avoid,” said Leticia Carvalho the head of the Marine and Freshwater Branch at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). “Understanding the resilience of Gulf corals, and other heat-tolerant reefs, may unlock secrets that can help us better protect and restore ecosystems of all kinds to deliver huge benefits for people and the planet. However, we must not lose sight of the need to urgently meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement and Global Biodiversity Framework, as well as tackle local stressors, to ensure nature can continue to function.”
Reviving fish stocks
In Abu Dhabi and other parts of the UAE, that means countering the impact of rapid urbanization and economic development, including extensive land reclamation and dredging operations. Overfishing has also impacted coastal ecosystems.
The environment agency has been monitoring fish stocks for more than 20 years. Staff members, including scientist Noora Albalooshi, are regular visitors to fish landing sites, where they assess the composition of the catch, take samples for laboratory analysis and interview those at the sharp end.
“In recent years, we have noticed a very sharp decline in average fish stocks and that is not just based off of scientific evidence and studies. We also corroborated that information with fishermen,” said Albalooshi.
Starting in 2018, the agency responded with measures, including a ban on certain types of fishing gear, allowing more fish from overexploited species to grow to maturity and reproduce.
“Since then we’ve seen incredible increases in both our key indices,” Albalooshi said.
Ecosystem network
Restoring the interconnected ecosystems that support marine life is key to sustaining the recovery in Abu Dhabi’s fish stocks.
Some 7,500 hectares of mangroves, which act as vital nurseries for many fish and a habitat for many other species, have already been restored and the agency is also initiating a project to revive 1,000 hectares of seagrass meadows by 2030. Both mangroves and seagrass meadows store vast amounts of climate-altering carbon.
The plan provides a ray of hope for efforts to conserve dugongs, rare marine mammals that depend on seagrass and have vanished from many former strongholds. The Gulf is believed to hold the world’s second-largest remaining population of the dolphin-like herbivores, which are most closely related to elephants.
Securing a future for corals, dugongs and other embattled species in the Gulf and elsewhere will take resources and perseverance, say those involved in the campaign. But they say it is crucial as climate change and blue ecosystem degradation accelerates.
“I see corals here on the front lines of climate change,” said Al Jailani, the marine scientist. “The conditions here might be seen in places like Australia within the century. I know there are many risks to this project. But I believe the risk of inaction is far greater.”
About the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The UN General Assembly has declared the years 2021 through 2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Led by UNEP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN together with the support of partners, it is designed to prevent, halt, and reverse the loss and degradation of ecosystems worldwide. It aims at reviving billions of hectares, covering terrestrial as well as aquatic ecosystems. A global call to action, the UN Decade draws together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration.
