Journal of Arabian Studies

Arabia, the Gulf, and the Red Sea

ISSN: 2153-4764 (Print) 2153-4780 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjab20

Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf: Security,

Environment, and Legal Issues

Elham Fakhro

To cite this article: Elham Fakhro (2013) Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf:
Security, Environment, and Legal Issues, Journal of Arabian Studies, 3:1, 36-52, DOI:
10.1080/21534764.2013.802940

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2013.802940

Published online: 27 Jun 2013.

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Journal of Arabian Studies 3.1 (June 2013), pp. 36–52
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21534764.2013.802940

Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf:

Security, Environment, and Legal Issues
ELHAM FAKHRO

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of reclamation developments constructed in the

United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during the past decade. Although the effects of land
reclamation have been studied from an environmental perspective, the potential for land
reclamation to contribute to domestic and inter-state tensions in the Gulf has been under-
researched and therefore has not been factored into policy decisions governing the scope
and scale of offshore expansion. The paper draws on international legal precedent and the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to consider the legality of land
reclamation in enclosed maritime areas and to argue in favour of the modernization and
enforcement of existing legal standards as a means of restricting the practice.
Keywords: Land reclamation, Arabian Gulf, Persian Gulf, offshore developments, UAE, Iran,
Bahrain, Qatar, environment, UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Regional Organization for
the Protection of the Marine Environment, International Court of Justice

1 Introduction
During the first decade of the twenty-first century, a spike in global oil prices created a surplus of
petro-dollars in the Gulf region. Eager to capitalize on wealth, states such as the United Arab Emi-
rates (UAE) and Bahrain liberalized property ownership and credit legislation as a means of pro-
moting foreign investment and trade. Key to this strategy was the emphasis on the high-end real
estate market, which was seen as integral to attracting tourism and developers to the area. Accord-
ingly, state-driven investment focused on the construction of private artificial islands to host
prime sea-front real estate, available for purchase by private investors.
The technical process for constructing the islands involves scraping large quantities of sand
from offshore areas and pouring the resulting mixture back into areas designated for reclamation.
The shallow waters along the shorelines of the Gulf, which measure just several metres in depth,
make this process a quick and inexpensive way of increasing coastal land. Despite little research
having been undertaken into the long-term environmental and social consequences of recla-
mation, states such as Bahrain were able to expand their total coastal area by between 8% and
10% within a decade. Dubai’s coastal land, which historically stretched for just sixty-five

Elham Fakhro is a non-resident Research Fellow at the Gulf Center for Development Policies and a practi-
cing lawyer based in Bahrain. She can be reached on PO Box 33341 Isa Town, Bahrain, fakhro4@gmail.com

Author’s note: At the time of writing, Elham Fakhro acted as Researcher in Law and Strategy at the Inter-
national Institute for Strategic Studies. A version of this paper was presented at the 2011 Gulf Research
Meeting, organized by the Gulf Research Center Foundation, University of Cambridge, 6–9 July 2011.
Views are the author’s own.

© 2013 Taylor & Francis

 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 37

Figure 1: Satellite image of Dubai’s coast, March 2000 © Google maps 2013.

kilometres, is expected to increase to a thousand kilometres after the completion of planned

developments.1

2 Overview of land reclamation

The primary driver of large-scale land reclamation in Dubai is the real estate giant, Nakheel Prop-
erties, the property arm of state conglomerate Dubai World. Nakheel’s completed projects include
The World, Palm Jumeirah, and Palm Deira, while its planned projects include the Dubai Water-
front and a third palm development, Palm Jebel Ali. In November 2009, the corporation faced
financial difficulties as a result of the global economic downturn, leading to the delay of
several of its projects and the cancellation of others (Figures 1 and 2).

2.1 Palm Jumeirah

Palm Jumeirah was among the first large-scale tourism developments to be created through
land reclamation. Designed in the shape of a palm tree, the development is spread over an
area of five square kilometres and consists of sixteen fronds that sit atop a single trunk. An
eleven-kilometre breakwater surrounds the development to protect it from tidal waves and
coastal erosion. Nakheel estimates that seven million tons of rocks were transported to the
area and that 110 million cubic metres of sand were dredged from the surrounding waters
as construction material for the islands. Its website boasts that the construction material,
placed end-to-end, could form a wall, two metres high and half a metre thick, that would

1
Rowe, “Making New Land”, Geographical 83 (2011), pp. 279–89.
38 Elham Fakhro

Figure 2: Satellite image of Dubai’s coast, February 2013 © Google maps 2013.

encircle the earth three times. In 2004, Wah.id ʿAt.alla, Director of Commercial Operations at
Nakheel, announced that all plots and property on Palm Jumeirah placed on the market had
been sold within one year.2

2.2 The World

In 2003, Nakheel unveiled plans for a reclamation project made up of 300 artificial islands in the
shape of the world. Land reclamation work was completed in 2008 and involved dredging 320
million cubic metres of sand from the sea basin. The project is set out over a total surface area
that is nine kilometres wide and seven kilometres long, at a total cost of US$14 billion. It is
also surrounded by a twenty-seven kilometre-long breakwater. The development adds 232 kilo-
metres of beachfront to the Dubai coastline.3

2.3 Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deirah

In 2004, Nakheel announced the construction of the Palm Jebel Ali, a second luxury island devel-
opment spread out over a surface area of twelve square kilometres. The development was
expected to provide accommodation for 250,000 residents and would add seventy kilometres
of beaches to Dubai’s coast.4 Soon thereafter, Nakheel announced the development of a third
palm-shaped island, the Palm Deira. The development was projected to take up a surface area
of forty-six square kilometres, equivalent to one-third the size of Paris.

2
Anon., “Dubai’s Palm Project First Phase Sold Out: Interview with Wahid Attalla”, Breaking Travel
News, 7 June 2004.
3
Nakeel PJSC, “Nakheel Announces Own Island Development on the World” (2011).
4
Nakheel PJSC, “The Palm Jebel Ali” (2011).
 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 39

Nakheel announced in 2008 that reclamation work for the Palm Jebel Ali was nearly finished,
and that reclamation for the Palm Deira was nearly one-fourth complete.5 However, work on both
projects stalled as a result of the global economic downturn and its impact on Dubai’s property
market, and as of January 2012, both projects remained on hold.6

2.4 Dubai Waterfront

One of Dubai’s lesser-known projects, the Dubai Waterfront, is also the largest planned waterfront
development in the world. According to official statements, the development would be con-
structed on a reclaimed area of 130 square kilometres or double the size of Hong Kong. A devel-
opment of this size would add more than seventy kilometres of coastline to Dubai and create
living space for over 1.5 million people. To date, 30% of the total reclamation has been com-
pleted.7 In 2013, Nakheel chairman ʿAlī Rāshid Lūt.a stated that the Dubai Waterfront remained
a “long-term project”.

2.5 Other developments

Other smaller developments in Dubai include the Dubai Promenade, spread over 1.6 square kilo-
metres of reclaimed land,8 and Dubai Maritime City, a development located on a man-made
peninsula measuring 2.27 square kilometres. A number of other planned projects have also
been placed on hold. These include the Universe, a series of islands in the shape of the solar
system that was planned to take up an area of thirty square kilometres, and Port Rashid, an exten-
sion of an existing port projected to spread over seven square kilometres.
While some observers have dismissed planned developments such as the Dubai Waterfront as
unrealistic, other industry experts remain confident that these projects will bear fruition over the
long term. One industry expert states:

Many of the projects are seen as integral to the authorities’ and developers’ vision of the city. Recla-
mation projects offer people prime real estate (sea views) with easy access to the infrastructure that in
this part of the world tends to be built close to the city. If pricing can be kept low, then the location
should appeal to a lot of people frustrated with the tight markets in Abu Dhabi. Political backing is
firm and the key question is timing.9

2.6 Environmental impact

Many real estate developers downplay warnings by environmentalists about the marine impact of
these projects. For example, Nakheel has promoted its projects as beneficial to marine life in the
area and publicized a commissioned study which found that the development of breakwaters
around artificial islands had created new artificial reefs that have acted as a habitat for fish and
other wildlife. Referring to The World reclamation project, Nakheel said:

Anon., “Nakheel Reclaims Land for Palm Deira”, Gulf News, 14 Apr. 2008.
5

Fattah, “Dubai Palm-Shaped Islands to Get First New Development Since Nakheel Rescue”, Bloom-
6

berg, 11 Jan. 2013.

7
Nakheel PJSC, “Dubai Waterfront: Facts and Figures” (2011).
8
Ibid.
9
Interview with Jarmo Kotilaine (Chief Economist at the National Commercial Bank Saudi Arabia), 14
Dec. 2011.
40 Elham Fakhro

The World exists harmoniously with the diverse, surrounding marine life that inhabits its waters.
Based on [an environmental assessment] report, the quality of seawater surrounding the islands
was superior to that tested along the shoreline of Dubai. There exist today at least 31 different
types of flora and fauna (along the breakwaters). As a result, colonies of pearl oysters and other mol-
lusks are beginning to proliferate. Various sea life, such as coral anemones and sea squirts, thrive
along and in between the breakwaters surrounding the islands, accepting it as part of their natural
environment. The shoreline areas comprise diverse marine life such as sea cucumbers, oysters,
sponges, plankton, butterfly fish and jellyfish.10

Speaking of the Palm Jumeirah, a spokesman for Nakheel stated that the reclamation of the island
was expected to “enhance the local wildlife population”, “create new habitats for fish and local wild-
life”, and “provide massive environmental benefits”. However, the notion that reclamation projects
have benefited marine life is strongly contested by environmentalists. A study on the Gulf’s estuarine
environment headed by a professor of biological sciences at the University of Warwick notes that

… most scientists working in the Gulf agree that the most significant and important threat to the sus-
tainability of the Gulf ecosystem comes from the massive extent of coastal habitat modification by
dredging and converting shallow, productive marine areas into land.11

According to a director of the World Wildlife Fund in the UAE, Fredric Launay, the development of
Palm Jumeirah had destroyed the only known coral reef off the shores of Dubai, in addition to dama-
ging valuable turtle nesting sites. The dredging of sand from the surrounding area also raised silt into
the waters, which acted as a pollutant in the sea. He noted that the opportunity to maintain the area’s
natural assets had been “lost” and that future options were likely to be restricted to “remediation and
mitigation”.12 Furthermore, a former senior technical advisor to Nakheel also warned against the
effect of the developments on coral life in the area. Based on his estimates, the Palm Jumeirah
had buried between 0.83 and 1.25 square kilometres of coral reefs, amounting to roughly one
million square metres of coral. He noted that other coral reefs within the twenty-five-square-kilo-
metre construction zone had probably also perished as a result of displaced sand and sediment
plumes in the surrounding waters.13 This assessment correlated with a report produced by a team
from the United Nations University, which observed that the construction of the Palm had “perma-
nently modified wave patterns, coastal currents, and patterns of sediment transport in the vicinity”.14
In another study on the effects of the Palm Jumeirah breakwater conducted eight years after its
construction, a scientific research team found that while the breakwater did create a new habitat
for some fish and coral, the communities on the breakwater were different from those found on
naturally grown coral patches. They observed that “breakwaters should not be thought of as repla-
cements for natural hard-bottom habitats in Dubai”.15 In another study, a reviewing member of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change pointed out that the Palm Jebel Ali is now situated on
a site over what was previously the Gulf’s second most documented bio-diverse ecosystem,
noting that the construction of the project had caused severe losses in the core coral reef area,
which would be unlikely to recover fully.16

Nakheel PJSC, “The World Reef” (2011).

10

Sheppard et al., “The Gulf: A Young Sea in Decline”, Marine Pollution Bulletin 60 (2010), pp. 13–38.
11
12
Stensgaard, “Environmental Challenges in the UAE”, AME Info, 9 May 2004.
13
Interview with Dr Tom Williams (former senior technical advisor to Nakheel). Cited in: Salahuddin,
“The Marine Environmental Impacts of Artificial Island Construction in Dubai”, MA thesis (2006).
14
Ibid.
15
Burt et al., “Are Artificial Reefs Surrogates of Natural Habitats for Corals and Fish in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates?”, Coral Reefs 28 (2009), pp. 663–75.
16
Sheppard et al., “The Gulf: AYoung Sea in Decline”, Marine Pollution Bulletin 60.1 (2010), pp. 13–38.
 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 41

3 Reclamation as a contributor to regional tensions

While large-scale land reclamation projects have threatened marine life in the Gulf, the develop-
ments have also threatened to re-ignite a decades-old dispute between Iran and the UAE.
The two countries remain embroiled in a deadlock over the status of three islands located
within the Arabian Gulf: Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb. Abu Musa is a circular
elevation of nearly fifteen kilometres in circumference and is occupied by several hundred,
mostly Arab, inhabitants.17 Greater Tunb has a total area of 7.5 square kilometres and also
hosts a small population. Lesser Tunb is less than five square kilometres in area and is uninhab-
ited. The islands are located close to the Straits of Hormuz, the entry point to an area through
which roughly 40% of all the world’s traded oil flows.18 The status of the Tunb islands was dis-
puted between Iran and the Emirate of Ras al-Khaimah, while the status of Abu Musa was dis-
puted between Iran and the Emirate of Sharjah.19 Following the unification of the UAE, the
areas are still disputed between the two countries.
The significance of the legal status of the islands rose to prominence after the British
announced their planned withdrawal from the Gulf in 1968. During this period, Great Britain sup-
ported Arab claims to the islands and sought to broker an agreement between the Shah of Iran and
the rulers of individual Emirates over the status of the islands. In 1971, the Shah and the Ruler of
the Emirate of Sharjah signed a memorandum of understanding in which both parties agreed to
share sovereignty over Abu Musa and to divide revenues accruing from oil exploration,
without giving up claims to the islands or recognizing claims made by the other party.20 Iran sub-
sequently seized control over the islands, prompting Sharjah to accept the de facto Iranian pres-
ence without relinquishing its claim of total sovereignty. Subsequently Iran also seized control
over the Tunb Islands, which had been excluded from the 1971 Agreement. This prompted
Ras al-Khaimah to accept the Iranian presence, while continuing to maintain its claim over the
Greater and Lesser Tunbs.
Both Britain and the United States criticized Iranian occupation of the islands, but neither was
prepared to respond militarily.21 In 1992, tensions resurfaced between Iran and the UAE follow-
ing rumours that Iran had shut down an Arabic school on Abu Musa and expelled Arabs from the
island, a move that was denied by the Iranian Foreign Minister. In 1996, Iran rejected a proposal
by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the dispute to be resolved by the International Court
of Justice (ICJ).22
In recent years, land reclamation by the UAE has threatened to re-ignite tensions between the
two states over the status of their unresolved maritime borders.23 On 1 March 2011, Major
General Yāh.ya Rah.īm S.afavī, adviser to Iranian President Mah.mūd Ah.madīnejād, warned that
the further construction of artificial islands could complicate disputed territory and waters in
the Gulf, due to the progressive encroachment of reclamation projects on the three disputed

17
Ahmadi, Islands and International Politics in the Persian Gulf: Abu Musa and the Tunbs in Strategic
Perspective (2008).
18
Cordesman, “Iran, Oil, and the Strait of Hormuz”, Report, Center for Strategic and International
Studies (2007).
19
Ibid.
20
Mobley, “The Tunbs and Abu Musa Islands: Britain’s Perspective”, Middle East Journal 57.4 (2003),
pp. 627–45.
21
Cordesman, “Iran, Oil, and the Strait of Hormuz”, Center for Strategic and International Studies
(2007).
22
Ibid.
23
Abai-Diba, “Legal Regime of the Artificial Islands in the Persian Gulf”, Soochow Law Journal 6
(2009), pp. 222–30.
42 Elham Fakhro

islands, stating that “Any decision about making major changes in the shape of the South coasts of
the Persian Gulf in order to achieve political, economic, and security objectives can have negative
repercussions on the ecosystem and political and economic issues”. He added that the islands
“could be used as tactical and strategic locations for future missile deployment” and cautioned
that the UAE had “infringed international law” by not having first sought Iran’s consent”.24
Several days later, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s National Security
and Foreign Policy Commission, announced that the Iranian parliament had launched an inves-
tigation into the UAE’s plans for building man-made islands in the Gulf and that Iran could
“seek the help of other countries that share the Gulf’s coastline as it attempts to halt their
construction”.25
The concerns expressed by Iranian officials cover three distinct areas. The first relates to the
environmental impact of reclamation activity on common waters of the Gulf. The second is
directed at the impact of reclamation on unresolved maritime delineation between the two
states and the third is related to the physical encroachment of the Emirate’s maritime border
with that of Iran. Each claim is assessed below.

4 International and regional legal framework

The potential for land reclamation disputes to fuel litigious action between states that are
embroiled in pre-existing territorial disagreements may be evidenced by the case brought to
the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in 2003 by Malaysia against Singapore.26
During this period, Malaysia and Singapore were embroiled in a dispute over the ownership of
Pedra Branca, the Middle Rocks, and South Ledge, an island and two outcrops located
between the Singapore Straits and the South China Sea. These land masses had been contested
since the withdrawal of British administration from Pedra Branca.
In the context of this on-going dispute, Malaysia sought to obtain provisional measures and
an injunction to prevent Singapore from reclaiming additional land in the ninety-five-kilometre
waterway separating the two states, citing Singapore’s obligations under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”, or, “the Convention”). The basis of Malay-
sia’s claim was based on the premise that Singapore’s reclamation interfered with Malaysia’s
rights as related both to the marine and coastal environment and to access to its own coastline.
Malaysia also alleged that the reclamation activity occurred within areas that it claimed as
being within its territorial waters.27 In its judgment, the Permanent Tribunal of Arbitration
refused the Malaysian request to halt reclamation; however, it did order Singapore to pay a
fixed sum to each Malaysian fisherman as compensation for losses resulting from reclamation
works. Although the Tribunal ruled in Singapore’s favour, its judgment recognized the joint
duty of states to protect marine environments in areas where narrow bodies of water are bor-
dered by land masses on either side. In affirming this principle, the tribunal held that:

24
White, “Ahmedinijahad Advisor: Iran May Stop UAE Expansion”, Construction Week Online, 1 Mar.
2011.
25
White, “Iran Ramps Up Pressure on Palm Projects”, Construction Week Online, 10 Mar. 2011. See
also: Ferris-Lay, “Iran Threatens Legal Action over UAE Offshore Islands”, Arabian Business, 14 Mar.
2011.
26
For further analysis of parallels between this case and the standoff between the UAE and Iran see:
Abai-Diba, “Legal Regime of the Artificial Islands in the Persian Gulf”, Soochow Law Journal 6 (2009),
pp. 222–30.
27
Chee, “World Court Hears Singapore, Malaysia Isle Dispute”, Reuters, 6 Nov. 2007. See also Anon.,
“Decision Resolves 28 Year Old Dispute”, The Star Online, 24 May 2008.
 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 43

The right of a state to use marine areas and natural resources subject to its sovereignty or jurisdiction
is broad but not unlimited. It is qualified by the duty to have due regard to the rights of other states
and to the protection and preservation of the marine environment. Nowhere is the importance of this
principle more evident than in and around a narrow strait bordered by each party throughout its
length.28

The rights and obligations of states in their use of the world’s oceans and marine resources are
outlined in the UNCLOS which was opened for signature in 1982 and came into force twelve
years later, in 1994. At the time of its drafting, it represented an attempt to resolve contemporary
questions concerning maritime obligations that stemmed from technological advancements in
resource exploration, in addition to other topics including navigational rights, economic rights,
conservation of marine life, and pollution of the seas.29
The legal provisions relating to the control of activities that impact upon neighbouring states
are outlined in Article 194, which requires states to take measures to prevent and control pollution
of the environment. Article 194(2) holds that:

States shall take all measures necessary to ensure that activities under their jurisdiction or control are
so conducted as not to cause damage by pollution to other States and their environment, and that pol-
lution arising from incidents or activities under their jurisdiction or control does not spread beyond the
areas where they exercise sovereign rights in accordance with this Convention.

The mechanism for dispute resolution between parties to the Convention is also outlined in
Article 287(1), which requires parties to the Convention to resolve disputes through arbitration.30
To date, both Iran and the UAE have signed UNCLOS, although only Iran has ratified it. By
signing the Convention, the UAE is bound to maintain a good faith obligation to uphold the
object and purpose of the treaty and to refrain from acts that would contravene treaty provisions.
At the regional level, both states are also members of the Regional Organization for the Pro-
tection of the Marine Environment (ROPME), the secretariat body of the Kuwait Regional Con-
vention for Cooperation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution. The
organization developed out of a joint interest between states bordering the Gulf in protecting
their shared marine environment. Although not yet called upon, its judicial commission holds
the authority to settle disputes relating to civil liability and to determine compensation for
damage resulting from the pollution of marine environment.
Disputes over land reclamation between Iran and the UAE are further complicated by the
absence of a formally delineated border between the two states. The allocation of maritime bound-
aries in the Gulf has historically been determined through the equidistance or median-line prin-
ciple. This principle holds that the maritime border between two states is established at equal
distance from the shores of both states.31 In determining the beginning of the shore area,

28
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, “Case Concerning Land Reclamation in and Around the
Straits of Johur (Singapore v. Malaysia), Decision of 1 Sept. 2005”, United Nations Reports of International
Arbitral Awards 17 (2005), pp. 133–45.
29
United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.
30
Pursuant to Article 287(3) of UNCLOS, “arbitration under Annex VII is the default means of dispute
settlement if a state has not expressed any preference with respect to the means of dispute resolution available
under Article 287(1) of UNCLOS and has not expressed any reservation or optional exceptions pursuant to
Article 298 of UNCLOS)” [See Permanent Court of Arbitration, “Ad Hoc Arbitration Under Annex VII of
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea”, website of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
(2010)].
31
This principle of customary international law is also enshrined in Article 15 of UNCLOS, which states
the following: “Where the coasts of two States are opposite or adjacent to each other, neither of the two States
44 Elham Fakhro

international tribunals have generally ignored small islands on the basis that to allow relatively
insignificant maritime features to wield a disproportionate effect on a maritime delimitation
line would be contrary to the principle of equity, as enshrined under Article 38 of the ICJ
statute. This was reflected in the ruling of the ICJ on Qatar and Bahrain, which ignored the pres-
ence of several low-tide elevations in setting the boundary between the two states.32
While Article 121 of UNCLOS recognizes that islands do generate exclusive economic zones,
the ICJ and arbitral tribunals have not upheld this principle when the islands in question are
located directly opposite continental land areas.33 Further, Article 60 of UNCLOS specifically
distinguishes artificial from natural islands and holds that artificial islands do not have a territorial
sea of their own, nor does their presence affect the delimitation of the territorial sea, exclusive
economic zone, or continental shelf.34
In view of international law and existing legal precedents on the matter, it is unlikely that the
construction of reclaimed islands by the UAE will affect legal claims to disputed territory between
the two states. It is also unlikely that the islands will be considered as a direct encroachment on
sovereign Iranian territory. However, Malaysia v. Singapore provides an example of the willing-
ness of international tribunals to recognize the duties of states under UNCLOS to protect their
surrounding marine environments and the willingness of international tribunals to award
damages following a violation of that duty. It is worth noting as a point of fact that the islands
in question are many times larger than the maritime elevations considered in past judgments
and there remains discretion for interpretation on the matter should the dispute reach the stage
of litigation. Given existing tensions between the two states over the status of Iran’s nuclear pro-
gramme and their ongoing border disputes, further disagreement over land reclamation has the
potential to act as a contributing factor to the growth of hostilities between them.

5 Bahrain: overview of reclamation projects

The Kingdom of Bahrain is an archipelago of thirty-three islands, spread over an original area of
668 square kilometres. Although reclamation began during the later decades of the twentieth
century, the bulk of coastline expansion has taken place within the past ten years, and has increased
Bahrain’s total area by 12%. Most reclamation projects have been constructed around Bahrain’s
north-eastern coast, primarily for high-end luxury and tourism projects. Reclaimed islands in the
Northern area include Diyar al-Muharraq, a residential and tourism development that is spread
over twelve square kilometres,35 Dilmunia Health Island, a reclamation project occupying an
area of 1.25 kilometres, and Amwaj Island, a mixed-use tourism and residential project spread

is entitled, failing agreement between them to the contrary, to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line
every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on the baselines from which the breadth of the
territorial seas of each of the two States is measured. The above provision does not apply, however,
where it is necessary by reason of historic title or other special circumstances to delimit the territorial
seas of the two States in a way which is at variance therewith.” See: United Nations Convention on Law
of the Sea (UNCLOS), 1982.
32
International Court of Justice, “Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and
Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain)”, 15 Feb. 1995.
33
Van Dyke, “The Republic of Korea’s Maritime Boundaries”, The International Journal of Marine and
Coastal Law18.4 (2003), pp. 509–40.
34
Article 60(8) of UNCLOS states the following: “Artificial islands, installations and structures do not
possess the status of islands. They have no territorial sea of their own, and their presence does not affect the
delimitation of the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf”. See: United Nations
Treaty Collection, United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea, Montego Bay, 10 Dec. 1982.
35
Diyar al-Muharraq, “Factsheets and Information about Diyar Al Muharraq” (2013).
 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 45

Figure 3: Satellite image of Bahrain’s northern coast, October 2002 © Google maps 2013.

over 2.8 kilometres. The Northern City, a section of reclaimed land allocated in part for govern-
ment-funded housing projects, also takes up an area of 7.4 square kilometres.
Smaller developments have also been built in the financial area of Manama, the capital, and
include Bahrain Bay, Reef Island, and the Bahrain Financial Harbour.36 A development located in
Bahrain’s southern tip, Durrat Al Bahrain, is also approaching completion and consists of six
atolls and five pearl-shaped islands spread over twenty-one square kilometres.37 A recent study
using topographical and aerial photographs found that Bahrain’s second-largest island of Muhar-
raq had quadrupled in size since 1950, with the majority of new land having been reclaimed
during the past fifteen years (Figures 3 and 4).38
State-sanctioned reclamation activity also shows no signs of slowing. Plans for the develop-
ment of a forty-kilometre-long bridge between Bahrain and Qatar are intended to include roadway
sections constructed on reclaimed embankments.39 Although the project has faced delays over the
years, official statements indicate that the project will go ahead as part of Qatar’s commitments to
improving its infrastructure ahead of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022.40 The first embank-
ments are to be constructed off the coast near the fishing village of Askar, in the southern tip
of the island.41

36
Holland, “10 Top Bahrain Mega-Developments”, Time Out Bahrain, 15 Jan. 2009.
37
Durrat al-Bahrain, “Remarkable Progress on Durrat al-Bahrain: Transforming the Map of the
Kingdom” (2006).
38
Mohammed, “Muharraq Grows by Four Fold”, Gulf Daily News, 22 June 2010.
39
Millington, “KBR Awarded Qatar-Bahrain Construction Contract”, Construction Week Online, 16
Nov. 2008.
40
Anon., “Economic Update, Bahrain: Tracks to the Future”, Oxford Business Group, 16 Apr. 2010.
41
Lidstone, “Qatar-Bahrain Causeway: A Bridge Between Two Cultures”, Financial Times, 18 Nov.
2009.
46 Elham Fakhro

Figure 4: Satellite image of Bahrain’s northern coast, February 2013 © Google maps 2013.

5.1 Bahrain: environmental impact

While developers of several large-scale reclamation projects have emphasized their compliance
with international environmental practices, the effects of land reclamation on Bahrain’s waters
have nevertheless raised widespread concerns among environmental researchers and scientists.42
A survey of data from ten projects on reclaimed land in Bahrain found that 153 square kilometres
of shallow marine habitat had been lost through dredging and filling of coastal areas. The study
also found that dredging, combined with temperature stress, has caused the demise of Fasht
A’dham, one of the largest reefs in the Gulf. Where this reef once extended from Eastern
Bahrain into the waters of Qatar, today it consists of dead coral skeletons covered with sediment
and algae; there is almost no living coral.43 A study commissioned by the United Nations Devel-
opment Programme on Bahrain’s biodiversity trends also found that 80% of Bahrain’s original
coastline had been modified through reclamation activity, which had caused a major reduction
in inter-tidal habitats.44 Other environmental researchers found that wildlife hotspots, such as

42
These include the developers of Diyar al-Muharraq. Their website states “The company has been more
deeds than words in terms of preserving the fragile marine ecosystem that surrounds the project location. A
series of steps has been devised after consulting reputed international consultants for preserving and replen-
ishing the aquatic life at the location. Different stages like Baseline Environmental Studies, Water Quality
Monitoring, Ecological Monitoring, Coastline Monitoring, and Environmental Compensation Plan (ECP)
have been devised as part of the company’s extensive Environmental Management Plan (EMP)” [Diyar
al-Muharraq, “Factsheets and Information about Diyar Al Muharraq” (2013)].
43
Sheppard et al., “The Gulf: A Young Sea in Decline”, Marine Pollution Bulletin 60.1 (2010),
pp. 13–38.
44
Fuller, Towards a Bahrain National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity: Report Pre-
pared for the General Directorate of Environment and Wildlife Protection and UNDP Country Office
(2006), p. 42.
 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 47

Tubli Bay,45 had shrunk by 60% between 1950 and 2006.46 Demand for commercial development
areas and limited institutional resources were cited as the primary contributors to coastline
modification.47

6 Reclamation as a contributor to domestic tensions

The impact of land reclamation has severely affected Bahrain’s fishing industry, which has suf-
fered over the past decade from an estimated 80% collapse in fish stocks. This can be attributed
directly to the practice of reclamation. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development’s International Trade Centre, at the height of dredging and reclamation activity
during the year 2004–05, Bahrain’s aquaculture exports plunged by almost 90%. During the
same period, the value of sales of shrimp fell from US$11 million to just US$95,000.48 The
UN Food and Agriculture Organization also warned recently that extensive land reclamation,
dredging, and destruction of reef areas have had a significant impact on fish stocks in Bahrain.
Local environmental and fisherman’s groups have echoed these observations. The head of
Bahrain’s National Pisciculture Centre, Dr ʿAbdulredha Shams, stated that Bahrain’s fish
stocks had fallen so drastically that the country’s entire fishing industry was under threat. Accord-
ing to Shams, current fish levels were not sufficient to support the 700 or so registered fishing
boats operating in Bahraini waters, and he therefore proposed that the number of licensed
vessels should be reduced to 100 in order to prevent overfishing. He described land reclamation
and sand dredging as “direct causes of declining fish numbers, and particularly local species such
as grouper and subaity”.49 A study carried out by the Bahrain Centre for Studies and Research in
2006 also found that 96% of fishermen attributed falling fish catches to increasing reclamation
activity.50
The collapse of Bahrain’s fish stocks has prompted a growing number of Bahraini fishermen
to abandon the occupation, on the basis that it no longer represents a viable means of earning a
livelihood. Many of these fishermen have had little training in alternative sectors and come from
families who have been in the business of fishing for generations. The collapse in domestic fish
stocks has also prompted the Bahrain Fishermen Protection Society to campaign for the enact-
ment of a GCC-wide law to allow Bahraini fishermen to trawl outside Bahrain’s maritime
borders.51 In early 2010, Bahraini fishermen announced a week-long strike to protest against
further coastal reclamation plans, and in the same year they signed a petition, which was sub-
mitted to the authorities, calling for more stringent regulation of dredging and reclamation prac-
tices and for better protection of national fishing grounds.52
While calls have gone out to the authorities for stricter control of reclamation licences issued
by the Bahraini government, reclamation is also practised illegally and often falls outside the
scope of regulation. While official statistics are difficult to come by, the vice-chairman of

45
Cornell Development Consulting Group, Strategic Initiative for Tubli Bay Urban Development:
Project Design Prepared for UNDP Bahrain (Manama: UNDP, 2006).
46
Fuller, Towards a Bahrain National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity: Report Pre-
pared for the General Directorate of Environment and Wildlife Protection and UNDP Country Office
(2006), p. 42.
47
Ibid.
48
Anon., “Economic Update, Bahrain: Inside the Edge”, Oxford Business Group, 27 June 2008.
49
Baxter, “Low Fish Stocks Threaten Bahrain’s Fishing Industry”, Arabian Business, 7 July 2009.
50
Anon., “Economic Update, Bahrain: Inside the Edge”, Oxford Business Group, 27 June 2008.
51
Anon., “New GCC Bid to Tackle Territorial Waters Row”, Gulf Daily News, 24 May 2010.
52
Torr, “Last-Ditch Plea by Fishermen”, Gulf Daily News, 19 June 2010.
48 Elham Fakhro

Manama Council did state in December 2011 that even though the council had halted reclamation
works in some areas, illegal reclamation persisted in those areas. In September 2012, the Manama
Municipal Council reported that nine separate reclamation projects were being carried out in the
areas of Manama and Karbabad, in violation of environmental law restricting reclamation in those
areas. The Minister of Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs, Dr Jumʿa Al-Kaʿabī, has report-
edly refused to take action to stop the reclamation works, on the basis that they had begun before
any ban had been placed on reclamation in that area.53
Analysts attribute difficulties in regulating the situation to practices of corruption and patron-
age in which the chain of land reclamation and land transfer is mired.54 When conducted illegally,
the process through which land reclamation takes place is described as follows: persons with high
connections illegally acquire title to vacant sea plots, gaining ownership of what is essentially a
section of open sea. The vacant sea plot is subsequently sold by the appropriator to a private
developer at below-market value. The developer then reclaims land within that sea area by dred-
ging sand from the nearby sea and pouring it back into the area designated for development. Then
the developer either builds up the land himself or sells it off to a second private developer. The
land is then divided into smaller units and sold off to buyers and private investors.55
In these instances, the government earns no revenue and all profits fall into private hands.
Indeed, a 2007 parliamentary inquiry conducted by the Public Utilities and Environmental
Affairs Committee found that public lands covering an area of sixty-five square kilometres had
been sold to private investors over a period of ten years, causing a loss of BD15 billion (US
$39.8 billion) to the national treasury. This amounts to twice the country’s annual gross domestic
product. The Committee also found that in many instances, no records existed of payment for land
transfer from the government to private owners, “many of whom are VIPs”.56
As protests swept across Bahrain in 2011, the issue of land reclamation emerged as a focal
point of anti-government protests, following revelations by opposition leaders that the area of
land reclaimed for the Bahrain Financial Harbour had been sold by the government to the
Prime Minister for private development at a cost of just BD1 (equivalent to US$2.7).57 A spokes-
man for the Prime Ministers Court denied any wrongdoing, saying that “legal procedures had
been followed” and that “the deal had been investigated and approved by a parliamentary
committee”.58
In March 2011, demonstrators marched outside the Bahrain Financial Harbour, holding up
one dinar notes in symbolic protest about the perceived lack of transparency of such transactions.
The protests represented the culmination of smaller demonstrations that had been taking place for
some years. In 2010, protests also took place against reclamation work on a US$1 billion devel-
opment when it emerged that a licence had been awarded by VIPs for the development, even
though the municipality responsible for awarding reclamation licences had not consented to
the project.59 In late 2011, the Manama Municipal Council announced that it would reopen inves-
tigations of illegal land reclamation in areas where the practice had been banned.60

Al-Aali, “Reclamation Halted”, Gulf Daily News, 27 Sept. 2012.

53
54
Interview with government official, 8 Dec. 2011.
55
Ibid.
56
Mohammed, “Reclamation Costs Bahrain Millions”, Gulf Daily News, 7 Mar. 2009.
57
Kerr and Wigglesworth, “Protesters Draw Bahrain Closer to a Reckoning”, Financial Times, 7 Mar.
2011.
58
Ibid.
59
Anon., “100 Protest Reclamation Work for $1 Billion Project”, Trade Arabia, 7 Feb. 2010.
60
Anon., “New Probe into Reclamations”, Gulf Daily News, 12 Dec. 2011.
 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 49

6.1 Bahrain and Qatar

While land reclamation has become a major political issue in Bahrain, its effects are threatening to
place an additional strain on relations with neighbouring Qatar. This is the result of a growing
number of arrests by Qatar of Bahrain-based fishermen who are accused of illegal incursions
into its territorial waters. In 2010 alone, Qatar seized a total of 260 Bahraini vessels and arrested
over 140 Bahrain-based fishermen. That same year a fisherman was killed when his boat was
rammed by a Qatari coastguard patrol.61 A second fisherman was shot by Qatari coastguards,
who claimed he had ignored earlier warnings to leave Qatari waters. In May 2010, Qatar threa-
tened to put dozens of captured sailors on trial, a move that was scrapped following the issuance
of a pardon by Qatari Amir Shaikh H.amad bin Khalīfa Āl Thānī.62 Arrests continued in 2011 with
Qatar detaining over thirty-two Bahrain-based fishermen in late July.63 Five of these fishermen
were subsequently awarded month-long prison sentences.
While the issue of fishing rights has strained relations between Qatar and Bahrain, tensions
between the two states date back to the eighteenth century when rival tribes maintained competing
claims over several maritime features in the surrounding waters. Disputed features included the
town of Zubara located on the Qatari peninsula, the Hawar Islands, the reefs of Fasht al-Dibal
and Qitʿat Jarada, and the islands of Janan and Hadd Janan. Tensions came to a head in 1986,
when Bahrain took measures to build up the reef of Fasht al-Dibal with the aim of establishing
a permanent Bahraini security presence on the reef. In response, Qatar dispatched several gun-
boats to the reef; reportedly they fired several warning shots and arrested twenty-nine expatriate
workers on the site. Saudi Arabia intervened shortly afterwards to mediate the situation but did not
succeed in brokering a lasting solution. It did, however, provide a temporary solution by dredging
the reef to its original size so that it was unable to accommodate artificial installations.
In 1991, Qatar moved to resolve its outstanding disputes with Bahrain by initiating court pro-
ceedings at the ICJ. A decade later, at the conclusion of the longest case in its history, the ICJ
issued its ruling. In the Case Concerning Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions
between Bahrain and Qatar (Qatar v. Bahrain),64 it provided a declaration on the status of the
contested areas and a ruling on the maritime boundary between the two states. In its ruling, the
Court noted that since Bahrain had ratified UNCLOS, and Qatar had only signed it, customary
international law would govern the delimitation of the territorial sea. In determining the area of
the maritime boundary between the two states, the Court relied on the principle of equidistance,
adjusted to take into account any relevant circumstances between Bahrain and Qatar.
While the establishment of permanent and internationally recognized borders temporarily
calmed relations between Qatar and Bahrain, incursions by Bahraini fisherman into Qatari
waters have acted as a catalyst for a series of incidents that threaten to re-ignite disputes between
the two states. In May 2010, Qatar opened fire on seven Bahraini vessels that strayed into Qatari
waters, injuring a Bahraini sailor. Ten days later, the Bahrain government banned the Qatari-
owned Al-Jazeera Satellite Channel from operating within its territory, and closed its offices for
“breaching professional media norms and flouting press and publishing regulations”.65 Analysts
interpreted this shutting down in the context of on-going demands by Bahrain for rental income

Torr, “Last-Ditch Plea by Fishermen”, Gulf Daily News, 19 June 2010.

61

Toumi, “Qatar Frees 15 Bahraini Fishermen Arrested in Doha”, Gulf News, 1 Sep. 2010.
62
63
Toumi, “Qatar Detains 32 Bahrain-Based Indian Fishermen”, Gulf News, 16 July 2011.
64
International Court of Justice, “Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and
Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain)”, 15 Feb. 1995.
65
Meyer and Tuttle, “Bahrain Shuts Al Jazeera Television Channel as Tensions Flare with Oil-Rich
Qatar” Bloomberg, 19 May 2010; also see Anon., “Rhetoric and Fishermen Belie the Myth of GCC
Unity”, Daily News Egypt, 25 June 2010.
50 Elham Fakhro

from Qatar for the use of the Hawar Islands in its development of oil and gas fields.66 As Bahrain
shows no signs of halting its land reclamation projects, its ailing fishing industry is likely to face
continued deterioration. As a result, increasingly desperate Bahraini fishermen can be expected
to continue to risk excursions into Qatar’s territorial waters, further damaging relations between
both states and threatening to re-kindle old hostilities.

7 Conclusion
While the surge in land reclamation during the past decade has contributed to domestic unrest in
Bahrain and inter-state tensions between Gulf States, its impact is threatening to expand as other
states in the region continue with the practice. In April 2011, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s Qatif
Business Council stated that recent reclamation activity around Qatif and Tarout Island was
destroying marine habitats and threatening the livelihoods of fisherman in the area. He noted
that many of the residents of Qatif were low-income fishermen who were losing their competitive
advantage in the market to fisherman from Oman.67 The destruction of local fishing industries in
states engaging in reclamation is set to increase as the practice shows no signs of abating, and as
other environmental threats, including temperature stress, pollution, and urbanization, continue to
place additional pressure on the waters of the Gulf.
While land reclamation poses a growing threat in the Gulf, it is rarely identified as such, due to
the convergence of the problem with other issues including land privatization, border disputes, and
broader environmental degradation. Measures to mitigate the practice should therefore also tackle
the myriad other areas with which it overlaps, as a means of arriving at a more holistic solution.
These would include measures to combat corruption and land privatization on the domestic
front, in addition to the strengthening of domestic environmental measures that exist in places in
such states as Bahrain and the UAE, but which currently lack stringent interpretation or application.
In the UAE, for example, federal laws require developers to submit environmental impact
studies as a pre-condition to obtaining licences for reclamation. The agency responsible for
issuing licenses has the capacity to block these projects if it considers them to be harmful to
the environment. So far, however, it has not done so with any of the largest and most destructive
developments. Independent oversight is made especially difficult, due to the fact that the largest
reclamation projects are carried out by Nakheel, a property arm of a government-owned conglom-
erate. In Bahrain, laws exist that prohibit reclamation in certain areas, but inadequate enforcement
of these laws against VIPs has rendered their effects negligible.
At the regional level, ROPME also establishes a solid collaborative framework between states
in the region for cooperation on environmental protection. Key to implementation of existing
standards is the organization’s judicial commission, whose functions include the determination
of civil liability and compensation for damages resulting from pollution of the marine environ-
ment. The commission also holds jurisdiction to provide advisory opinions on all legal questions
including rules of international law relating to marine pollution. While this mechanism has rarely
been invoked in the past, strengthening its role has the potential to improve compliance by states
with its protocols.
At the regional level also, unresolved border disputes between states such as Iran and the UAE
have added a political dimension to the practice. The resolution of outstanding border delineation
through legal mechanisms or through arbitration channels is necessary to curb the possibility of

66
Ibid.
67
Al-Barakati, “Land Reclamation Threatens Livelihood of Qatif Fisherman”, Saudi Gazette, 28 Apr.
2011.
 Land Reclamation in the Arabian Gulf 51

diplomatic fallout between these states. This must be achieved in tandem with the application of
more stringent environmental laws to achieve an adequate effect.
Finally, any measures to target land reclamation cannot be achieved without corresponding
attempts to reshape the development strategies of states engaging in the practice, which prioritize
short-term growth ahead of long-term environmental sustainability. At this level, sustainability
and protection of natural resources must be given serious priority in planning and urban develop-
ment before these resources are lost for future generations. Planning authorities must also take
into account the impact of reclamation developments on internal constituencies and on other
states in the region, who share a common interest in the maintenance and sustainability of the
marine environment.

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