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Figure 1. Location of Ras Laffan Industrial City

Ras Laffan Industrial City has approximately 14 km of beach (9 km on its Northern coast and 5 km on its Eastern coast). The beaches are divided into two distinctive zones; the littoral dune system and the beach itself. The dunes are approximately 3 m high and 50 m wide, and run parallel to the shoreline increasing land elevation by 2.0 and 3.0 m. The dunes consist of sand brought to the area by natural processes and are composed of sub-angular to rounded fine to medium grained sand (URS 2000).

The area receives little protection from the Arabian Gulf and beach profiles tend to be steep because of wave and current action. The headland at Ras Laffan is primarily exposed rock with a thin veneer of coarse sediment to the south. The remaining coastline is mostly mixed beach rock and sand immediately north of Ras Laffan, grading into more sandy beaches further north.Off the coast of Ras Laffan and Al-Khor there are coral patches, seagrass beds and rocky areas.

Marine turtles are considered a protected species in Qatar, but due to lack of control and enforcement measures the species do not benefit from this listing. The most common threats to marine turtles in Qatar are destruction of their nesting beaches due to industrial development and construction of beach houses; destruction of nests from vehicular movement on beaches, poaching of eggs; and entrapment of turtles in fishing nets.

Ras Laffan Industrial City has initiated a programme to protect marine turtles including identification of nesting sites on beaches and monitoring trends in nesting activity, ensuring long-term protection of nesting beaches, and increasing environmental awareness. In 1999-2000, based on the recommendation of this programme, the City erected a 6 km long sand/dirt barrier parallel to the northern beach to stop vehicular movement on the beach. It also cleaned the beaches of debris (timber, plastic, nylon ropes, glass and metal scraps), and set up continuous surveillance of the area to deter any egg poaching.

In 2001 a study was initiated to identify turtle nesting sites, assess environmental sensitivity of the area, and to map turtle nesting sites. In 2001 the coastal areas were patrolled every third day from 13th May- 11th June and in 2002 patrols were conducted daily from 22nd April- 17th August. The position of turtle nests were recorded using a GPS. The sites were labelled/marked and all other track markings were erased (to protect the nest from poachers). In 2002, low-impact dune buggies were used to record nesting data and for patrolling purposes. During the study period, surveys were also carried out to locate adult turtles in nearshore waters. The nesting data was entered into GIS system and a mapping layer of turtle nesting areas was created.

Adults of both green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles were observed in the vicinity of RLIC (either inside or outside the harbour) suggesting both species nest along the coastal areas of Ras Laffan Industrial City. Three adult Hawksbill females were observed nesting, and all other nesting activity was identified by track counts.

A total of 81 nesting activities were recorded on the Eastern the shore (16 in 2001, 65 in 2002) and another 239 nesting activities were recorded on the Northern shore (64 in 2001, 174 in 2002). It was not possible to ascertain the species composition of the activities, or the proportion that resulted in egg laying. Five hawksbill nests were selected for observations from which eggs were counted and weighed, and subsequent emerging hatchlings were counted and weighed. The average number of eggs in each nest was 78 (SD = 15.7, n = 17, range = 46-104) and average egg weight was 28 g (SD = 0.4, n = 3, range = 28.1-28.8). Hatching success was 86 % (SD = 14.8, n = 17, range = 44.3-100) and hatchling weight averaged 13g (SD = 1.06, n = 34, range = 10.8-14.4).

Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that: both green and hawksbill turtles nest on the coast of Ras Laffan; the northern coast of the Industrial City is a significant turtle nesting site; and although more nesting was recorded at Ras Laffan in the second year, further monitoring using comparable methods will be needed to ascertain trends.

QGPC. 1998. Ras Laffan Industrial City (Introductory Brochure), Qatar Petroleum, Doha, Qatar.

QGPC. 2000. Programme for the Protection of Marine Turtles, Qatar Petroleum, Doha, Qatar.

UNEP/IUCN. 1988. Coral Reefs of the World. Volume 2: Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Gulf. UNEP Regional Seas Directories and Bibliographies. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K./UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya. pp 261

URS. 2000. Ecological Walkover Survey, Environmental Impact Assessment of Rasgas Expansion, URS Dames & Moore, London.pp. 5-13