NORMALLY luxury new beachside hotel developments play havoc with local wildlife, reducing their habitat and endangering their breeding sites. In the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi has demonstrated that the two can co-exist by making every effort to conserve and rehabilitate the endangered hawksbill turtle.
Hawksbill turtles have been swimming in the waters of Abu Dhabi for centuries. They were in the Arabian Gulf when people lived in simple barasti houses fashioned from the large, leafy branches of the date palm without simple amenities like running water and electricity.
They were there before oil reserves transformed the desert landscape into a plethora of skyscrapers and buildings of eye-watering opulence.
And they will be there for centuries to come thanks to the diligence of beachside hotels that are working in collaboration with the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi to protect its natural habitat and help every sick or injured sea turtle that washes ashore.
In May, the most opulent of all Abu Dhabi hotels, Emirates Palace, released 50 hawksbill sea turtles after a period at the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Centre.
Meanwhile at Saadiyat Beach, where more luxury hotel developments are taking place along the shoreline, there have been successful hatchings of baby hawksbill turtles in recent years.
Hotels like St Regis Saadiyat have been diligent during the hatching season, cordoning off the dune from beachgoers, switching off lights and removing anything that could cause a distraction.
Since oil revenue filled Abu Dhabi’s coffers, causing it to leapfrog from the 18th century to the 20th century in just a few decades, critics have been quick to dismiss it as a place where gloss outweighs substance.
However, Abu Dhabi will soon build the world’s largest solar plant in its push towards cleaner energy in an $870 million collaboration with Chinese and Japanese companies.
Ten years ago Abu Dhabi broke new ground with the development of Masdar City, designed to be the world’s most sustainable low carbon city. Today Masdar City is pioneering a “greenprint” for how cities can accommodate rapid urbanisation and dramatically reduce energy, water and waste.
Abu Dhabi will continue to grow, with the current population of 2.9 million expected to double by 2030.
More and more of the desert is being reclaimed for development, but it is not all for high-rise hotels and office buildings.
The wealth bestowed on the city through its large oil reserves is also being spent to enrich the cultural life of residents and visitors.
Just seven minutes from downtown Abu Dhabi the 27sq km Saadiyat Island is being transformed into a world class leisure, residential, business and cultural hub of global proportions. When completed it will house the world’s largest single concentration of premier cultural assets including the Zayed National Museum, Louvre Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
* Sue Preston was a guest of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and flew courtesy Etihad Airways.