Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, U.A.E. Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nature and Managing Director of the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, has published a new commentary in Mongabay examining the environmental risks facing the Arabian Gulf amid ongoing regional tensions.
In the article, Ms. Al Mubarak reflects on the ecological importance and vulnerability of the Gulf’s marine ecosystems, including seagrass meadows, mangroves, coral reefs, and coastal wetlands that support dugongs, sea turtles, migratory birds, and other species across the region.
She notes that nature is deeply interconnected with human well-being and regional infrastructure, including desalination systems that provide water security for tens of millions of people.
“These ecosystems exist alongside the same coastal zones that support cities, energy and industrial infrastructure. Their survival, like ours, depends on clean water, intact habitats and stable environmental conditions.”
Drawing on lessons from previous conflicts in the region, Ms. Al Mubarak highlights the long-term environmental consequences caused by large-scale oil spills, fires, and damage to coastal infrastructure during the Iran–Iraq war and subsequent conflicts in the Gulf.
She explains that the Gulf’s shallow and semi-enclosed geography increases ecological vulnerability, as pollutants can persist for years and spread rapidly across marine habitats.
“What is at stake today is not only the repetition of past damage, but its amplification across interconnected systems. The gulf underpins both regional livelihoods and a significant share of the global energy system. Environmental damage would not remain contained.”
Throughout the commentary, Ms. Al Mubarak underscores that environmental degradation in the Gulf would carry consequences extending beyond biodiversity loss, affecting water security, public health, regional livelihoods, and broader stability.
She also reflects on the long-standing relationship between communities in the region and the natural systems that sustain them, emphasizing that the protection of nature remains inseparable from human well-being and resilience.
“While the financial costs of damage can be calculated, the loss of ecosystems and species cannot. Preventing that damage is not only an environmental imperative. It is essential to protecting the systems that sustain life in the region and beyond. ”
The commentary concludes with a call to prevent further environmental harm and to recognize the protection of ecosystems as essential to safeguarding both people and nature across the region.