Adloun Port: A Threat to Biodiversity and the Public Beach

Adloun Port is intended for fishermen, and a public swimming area will be established nearby and open to everyone,” said the Director General of Land and Maritime Transport at the Ministry of Public Works, Abdel Hafiz Al-Qaisi, last December. His statement came in response to questions raised by several activists during a session discussing the law on public maritime property, regarding the feasibility of establishing a tourist port in Adloun, “a town that lacks adequate infrastructure and whose historical and environmental sites suffer from chronic neglect,” according to the Green Southerners organisation.

The Green Southerners organisation issued a statement on January 10, 2016, calling for Adloun Beach to be declared a natural and archaeological reserve. It pointed out that the extensive land reclamation works included in the project “will cause severe damage to the biodiversity of Adloun’s beach, which, contrary to the project’s claims—will have negative repercussions on the fishing profession throughout the entire region. Such reclamation would lead to the destruction of marine turtle habitats that still exist around the site and nest on its shores, resulting in further imbalance in the marine ecosystem, in which sea turtles play a vital role.”