A green light over the Red Sea
Rebuilding the coral reefs. Replanting mangrove forests. Regenerating the marine environment. This is a coastal development plan like no other
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In one of the most seldom-visited areas of the Red Sea, a remote virgin coastline of beaches, islands and dunes, something spectacular is about to happen.
But, it’s also a tale of the unexpected. Firstly, there’s the location. This isn’t the Egyptian Red Sea, which welcomes some 1.2 million tourists each year, but part of the once-isolated Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Despite being one of the biggest tourism developments globally, instead of the expected negative impact on land, wildlife and people, 'Red Sea Global' is promising something remarkable: to add to the conservation value of the landscapes where the new luxury resorts are being built.
For Canadian John Pagano, the CEO of Red Sea Global, guaranteeing that the destination and the environment can happily coexist has always been at the forefront of the plans.
One of the experts brought onboard was William McDonough, architect and sustainable development leader dubbed by Time magazine as a “hero for the planet”. Talking over Zoom from his home in Virginia, McDonough explains, “I first went to Saudi because of the Red Sea there and the fact there’s 130km of pristine coral reef. Pristine coral reef is actually a technical term meaning no anthropogenic influence. We needed a helicopter to gain some perspective — the area was vast. I was genuinely flabbergasted. My attitude immediately was that we need to do everything we can to preserve and protect this reef.”
A pair of Dolphins observed in the Red Sea
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The Saudi Red Sea archipelago of 90 previously unexplored, undeveloped and mostly uncharted islands, has a unique and critical conservation value. It’s here you’ll find the favoured local nesting site of the critically endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtles.
When we meet at Dubai’s Arabian Travel Market, Pagano explains, “We didn’t start by bringing in architects and contractors. Instead we brought in the scientists, partnering with King Abdullah University of Science & Technology.”
With the experts onboard, the next step was to set about studying the destination. “How could we develop it in harmony with nature,” Pagano says, “if we didn’t understand the environment we were dealing with?”
On the dolphin-shaped Shura Island, there’s the world-class design concept for the new Coral Bloom resort from British architectural firm Foster + Partners. On the idyllic Ummahat Island, the St Regis Red Sea Resort and the Nujuma Ritz-Carlton Reserve (only the brand’s fifth hotel globally) will take barefoot eco-lux to new levels.
This meant mapping the entire 28,000 square kilometres site (a region nearly the size of Belgium). There were baseline surveys of the aquatic and terrestrial environments and a full maritime spatial stimulation. For nearly a year, a team of scientists walked every one of the 90 islands, auditing creatures, habitats, flora and fauna, identifying and assigning conservation values. They recorded 300,000 fish across 280 different species, 41 breeding pairs of the ‘vulnerable’ sooty falcons, while endangered Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins were also sighted.
All of which informed the blueprint for the new resort. First off, the number of tourists visiting each year will be limited. As Pagano says, “Scientific evaluation determined our ecological ceiling. We know we can’t support any more than 750,000 to a million tourists a year.” Isn’t that a large number? “Given the size of the development, we could easily accommodate 10 million visitors per year, but doing so would ultimately destroy the destination.” At least 75% of the Saudi Red Sea archipelago will remain untouched, while the environment will be monitored on a real-time basis to spot early signs of any changes.
Recent alarming research published by the United Nations Environment Programme shows the growth of tourism and its impact on the environment is growing at an unsustainable rate, with a 154 percent increase in energy consumption expected by 2050 if action is not taken.
At The Red Sea Project, local transport will be on foot, bicycle or buggy and the resort will be entirely off-grid. Although wind energy is unsuitable, since the Saudi Red Sea sits on one of the great migration paths for 1.5 million birds (predominantly raptors, but also storks, ibises and pelicans), it will be powered 100% by renewable energy, solar by day with energy stored in batteries for night.
As the development’s plans flourished, so did the aspirations, changing from an ambition to be carbon neutral to becoming carbon negative.
Back to McDonough: “Net zero is good because it’s simple, but even this is depressing. It means saying to our kids, we will try and clean up our mess, and leave you at zero. And that’s it. But we need to do more.” Pagano agrees. “Maintaining the status quo — in other words sustainability — is no longer enough. We need to start undoing some of the damage we have done. We wanted to know how we could make the place better and we set ourselves the goal of increasing the conversation value by 30% over the next two decades.”
This is ‘regenerative development’: a way of working with nature, making the place better and doing things to enhance the environment. Today, two million trees destined for rewilding projects are maturing in landscape nurseries, while a lab-grown coral garden opens up new possibilities for research and reef regeneration. Globally, coral reefs — critical to the health of the oceans and marine life — are under threat, which contrasts with the pristine reefs of the Red Sea.
Six years ago, Saudi Arabia captured the world’s attention with the news of an ambitious agenda called Vision 2030. This vision is to overhaul the country’s economic structure, diversify away from a high dependence on oil, transforming how the kingdom generates income, as well as how it spends and manages its vast resources.
Subsequently, in 2019, Saudi Arabia issued its first tourist visas and the borders opened to travellers for the first time in 80 years, but significant numbers are still yet to visit.
Bordering the coastlines of six countries, the Red Sea — where different civilizations, faiths and traders have mingled for centuries — is pivotal to Saudi's ambitions to become a groundbreaking ecotourism destination.
In October 2021, ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Saudi Arabia’s HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the Kingdom’s aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060 to curb manmade climate change. With the launch of the Saudi Green Initiative, a wave of projects was announced, representing an investment of £135.6bn in the growth of the green economy.
By 2030, the Kingdom has pledged to double its efforts to lower its carbon emissions from a reduction of 130 million tonnes to 278 million, plant 10 billion trees, transform Riyadh into a more sustainable capital and rehabilitate eight million hectares of degraded land. The ambition is to transform 30% of the Kingdom’s land into protected areas, with ecological corridors that will help wildlife to thrive.
But it’s not just the land that will be restored, rewilded and conserved. One of Saudi Arabia’s iconic giga-projects is the Red Sea Project, arguably the world's most ambitious tourism project in terms of regenerating marine environments and creatures.
As Pagano says, “We have the best coral reef system in the world and part of our objective for regenerative development is to share our discoveries and learnings with the rest of the world. Currently, we're working with NGOs to enhance the natural reproductive cycle of corals.” At the destination of AMAALA, the Marine Life Institute will consist of ten zones providing everything from augmented reality experiences to night diving for guests, alongside spaces for the scientific community to progress their environmental projects.
As the first three hotels in the resort edge closer to their 2023 opening, the promise remains for a destination that generates fewer emissions, allows guests to tread with a lighter footprint while creating a deeper appreciation. As Pagano says, “We want to push others to follow our lead, to do things differently and in the process, protect our planet. If more developers around the world follow us, then we can make for a better future.”
Saudi’s Southern Dunes, located on the desert plains beneath the mighty Hijaz Mountain, will be a landmark opening for Six Senses.
Maldivian-style overwater villas to adventure-filled mountain escapes, volcanoes and desert retreats. We’ve seen their like before in the high end tourism business.
Hotels to open by 2030
50
Residential properties
1,300
Hotel rooms
8,000
Waste to landfill
0
Single-use plastics
0
Waste to sea
0
Estimated age of an eight-metre-high single coral colony
600
years
Islands designated special conservation zones
9
Length of the Red Sea coastline in the development
200
km
The total destination area will be developed
1%
Of projects have applied for sustainability accreditation
100%
Debris removed by the Marine Clean-Up Programme
28
tonnes
William McDonough
Architect and sustainable development leader
I was genuinely flabbergasted. My attitude immediately was that we need to do everything we can to preserve and protect this reef.
Targets
Red Sea in numbers
The land and seascapes
Preservation commitments
A Lionfish observed by Red Sea Global scientists in the Red Sea
An Osprey spotted on the Red Sea coast
Coral reefs support a huge variety of marine life
The islands of the Red Sea are home to critically endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtles
Development in the Red Sea will add to the conservation value of the landscape
