- DAMAC Properties contracted Environics to conduct an IEIA for the planned tourism project at Gamsha Bay, on the coast of the northern Red Sea, Egypt.
- The proposed project included: residential villas; town houses; apartments along with hotels and beach resorts; commercial amenities; entertainment and sports activities, waterways and canals (artificial lagoons), and beach front activities.
- The project’s Baseline Survey comprised:
- Physical components: climate; air quality & noise; the site’s geomorphology, geology, & hydrology, and oceanographic conditions.
- Biological components: terrestrial and marine ecologies.
- Separate detailed survey of the coral patches facing the project site, a necessary supplement given the unique location of the project.
- Socio-economic component: population; transportation; economic activities; stakeholder consultation, and public disclosure.
- Environmental sensitivity map of the project area, which identified potentialities & constraints.
- The IESIA was based on the final project MP, to which Environics also contributed through revising drafts. The IEIA included:
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- Legislative and regulatory framework.
- Detailed compilation of baseline environmental and social survey.
- Analysis of alternatives of the project’s components, namely, the lagoon system, the desalination plant, the sewage treatment and sewerage system, and flood protection measures.
- Assessment of project’s environmental impacts.
- Environmental Management Plan (EMP) that summarized the mitigation measures and provided details for the management practices, the monitoring plan, capacity building and training, the environmental register, and the plan review & development.
