• Protecting Corals
  Protection of Platygra sp, corals located
  near the New Port site and identified during
  baseline environmental surveys, has been
  a key aspect of the New Port Project's
  development and planning.
• Protecting the Mangrove
  Minimising the environmental impact of the works
  is an important Project value. As part of the
  Project’s environmental work, a total of 139,117
  mangrove plants have been relocated to a donor site.
  Survivability rates are continually monitored
  in conjunction with the Ministry of Environment.
• Environmental Protection
  The New Port Project is committed to sustainability
  and safeguarding marine habitats and ecosystems.
  In coordination with the Ministry of Environment,
  139,117 mangroves, 14,252 m2 of sea grass and
  11,595 hard corals have been relocated.
  All transplanting to date has presented survivability
  rates on par with industry norms.

Protecting the Environment

Building the New Port creates both environmental challenges and opportunities. Consistent with one of the pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030, the design and construction of the New Port has been undertaken with environmental protection as a key objective. In co-ordination with the Ministry of Environment extensive land and marine environmental investigations occurred prior to any works on site in order to understand the natural environment at the New Port site. This knowledge was essential to ensure that the New Port could be designed and constructed in a way to reduce environmental impacts and thereby achieve a balance between economic growth, social development and environmental protection.

Major efforts which have been implemented during the construction phase have been extensive relocation programs for the re-location of hard corals, soft corals, seagrasses, and mangrove trees. Ongoing monitoring of these communities indicates the success of these programs. In addition, extensive environmental monitoring schemes have been implemented during the construction phase to ensure that the New Port’s construction activities are controlled and can be adjusted to ensure environmental preservation.

Buildings within the New Port are designed and constructed with energy conservation and sustainability as a key feature. Buildings will achieve targeted ratings using the locally developed GSAS sustainability rating system.

Sustainable Development

The New Port office and administration buildings and complexes are being designed and constructed to achieve up to a 4 star rating from the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS). This locally developed assessment system ensures that the port buildings are designed and constructed in a manner to preserve resource use while maximising functionality, connectivity, and cultural identity. The GSAS system was selected as it seamlessly incorporates the unique characteristics and opportunities of the Qatar desert climate, ensuring that the Port buildings operate efficiently throughout their lifetime.

Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring

The New Port has employed substantial measures to mitigate impacts on the environment. These have included the construction and operation of ‘stilling basins’ during dredging operations to ensure that water returned to the sea is clear and free from turbidity which can otherwise have very damaging effects on marine habitats. A substantial network of environmental monitoring systems has been employed across the New Port site to provide the information on key environmental indicators (air, soils, groundwater, noise, vibration, marine water, land and marine flora and fauna, coastal processes). The information from those monitoring systems are utilised by the project to ensure compliance to the Ministry of Environment’s environmental performance requirements.