海角视频

AMAALA

Saudi Arabia

It has been called a 鈥榟idden jewel鈥�. The AMAALA destination, developed by Red Sea Global (RSG), is set to deliver an ultra-luxury tourism destination comprising of more than 4,000km² of largely uninhabited land along Saudi Arabia鈥檚 north-western Red Sea coastline.

海角视频 delivered a comprehensive strategic overview for how AMAALA could take shape and advised on environmental best practice for the development.

The epic scheme, the name of which derives from the Arabic word for 鈥渉ope鈥�, is a key strand of the kingdom鈥檚 2030 Vision 鈥� the strategic framework to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy, and develop sectors such as recreation and tourism.

Like The Red Sea destination to the south, and the Al Ula destination to the east, AMAALA is a development on an ambitious scale, creating an entirely new attraction, roughly the size of Luxembourg, on the Red Sea coast, to offer a stunning ultra-luxury tourism and cultural destination attracting both Saudi Arabian and international guests, from around the world to explore this previously little-known corner of the kingdom.

海角视频 has assisted the Saudi Arabian government in shaping its vision of transformation and the development of a new tourism sector for more than 15 years across a range of projects. This included being commissioned to build a greater understanding of the kingdom鈥檚 assets and to conserve, enhance and make them more visible, including being part of the process of getting Jeddah鈥檚 Al Balad old town and Diriyah UNESCO listings.

In 2014 we were tasked with looking at all of the kingdom鈥檚 geological landscape assets to advise on which could be listed as UNESCO geo-parks. These initial reports laid key foundations for the cluster of assets that have emerged in the north-west of the kingdom, which are now being carefully opened-up as hospitality giga-projects. Following on from these initial reports, we have supported the development of the major projects for the north-west including The Red Sea, the Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Royal Reserve and AlUla.

AMAALA is to be an ultra-luxury tourism destination comprising of more than 4,000km虏 of largely uninhabited land along Saudi Arabia鈥檚 north-western Red Sea coastline.

AMAALA will feature a range of hospitality venues and attractions.

Our experts advised on environmental best practice around avoidance, minimisation, mitigation and enhancement of biodiversity impacts 鈥� as part of our wide-ranging multi-disciplinary support to the client.

The development broke ground in 2020 and all phases will be completed in line with the realisation of Saudi Arabia鈥檚 Vision 2030.

Challenge

AMAALA will feature a range of luxury hospitality venues and cultural attractions 鈥� from upscale hotels, private estate guest villas and Arabian-inspired botanical gardens showcasing works of art and sculpture, to wellness spas and world-class sporting facilities hosting everything from polo to golf to falconry.

海角视频 was commissioned to examine the project region at an in-depth strategic level, advising in detail on what鈥檚 physically there, whether the region鈥檚 systems are capable of development, the demographics of who currently lives near the development, as well as a careful examination of what the challenges would be for a major transformation to take place in the region.

A key focus of the 2030 Vision is to build around environmentally sustainable targets and it was paramount that any new infrastructure took the kingdom鈥檚 environmental goals into account.

海角视频鈥檚 ecology and biodiversity management specialists worked with the client at an early stage to provide advice on best practice to avoid, minimise and mitigate impacts to biodiversity, as well as providing strategic recommendations for the restoration and rehabilitation of sensitive habitats.

Solution

Our experts developed a regional planning framework, with a focus on sustainable systems, advising on issues such as water resources, power grids and mobility systems.

We worked with the project鈥檚 scientific research partner, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to assess the ecological baseline of the region and outline opportunities and constraints to be considered in the masterplans. Our team also prepared a Regional Environmental Zoning Plan to form a holistic assessment of the project鈥檚 natural, heritage and cultural assets. This provided a spatial planning guide for future sensitive development in the region.

Our team also collaborated with species and lighting experts to model potential lighting impacts on turtle-nesting beaches and worked with design teams to set development back from beaches, and consider additional mitigation options in the design. The team prepared a Framework Biodiversity Action Plan for the site, which included outlining a methodology to quantify biodiversity losses and set targeted objectives for nature-positive activities.

Each activity was assigned Key Performance Indicators to measure success, alongside responsibilities and ballpark costs. The plan also outlined the monitoring and adaptive management requirements to evidence long-term biodiversity enhancements across the project area.

Value

As well as playing a key role in the early development of the AMAALA vision, our experts advised the client on environmental best practice to support the avoidance, minimisation and mitigation of biodiversity impacts, as well as providing recommendations to achieve a net gain in biodiversity over time.

This work supports AMAALA鈥檚 commitment to comply with global best practice in managing environmental risk on projects 鈥� widely recognised as the International Finance Corporation鈥檚 Performance Standards (in this case Performance Standard 6, which relates to biodiversity conservation).

As well as providing a robust environmental framework, this will allow the project to maximise its commercial funding potential and ensure the long-term sustainability of the site鈥檚 natural assets. The AMAALA development broke ground in 2020 and all phases will be completed by 2027 in line with the realisation of Saudi Arabia鈥檚 Vision 2030.