Experts have warned {that a} £1-trillion megacity resulting from be in-built Saudi Arabia will pose a lethal barrier for thousands and thousands of birds migrating by means of the desert.
Saudi Arabia says ‘The Line’ will stretch as two parallel, mirror-fronted skyscrapers throughout 160 km within the north-west of the dominion and reaching the Red Sea. It is deliberate as an ‘unprecedented residing expertise’, which the dominion claims will protect ‘surrounding nature’.
‘The Line’ will stretch for 160 km throughout the desert from the Red Sea, making a probably lethal barrier for migrating birds (NEOM).
Visible in satellite tv for pc photos, building of The Line has already began. The Saudi kingdom has known as the undertaking a ‘civilisation revolution’ however the megacity has been listed as one of many 15 most pressing conservation points to observe in 2024.
Professor William Sutherland, director of analysis for zoology at Cambridge University, stated: “Birds flying into tall home windows is a significant issue, and this can be a building that’s 500 m excessive going throughout Saudi Arabia, with windmills on prime.”
He added: “It’s additionally sort of like a mirror so you do not actually see it. So until they do one thing about it, there is a severe danger that there could possibly be a lot of injury to migratory birds.”
The globally Endangered Saker Falcon and Egyptian Vulture migrate by means of Saudi Arabia, alongside an enormous vary of different hen species, amounting to an estimated 2.1 million people every autumn.
Glass or mirror-fronted buildings are a well known risk to birds, with as many as 1 billion killed in collisions with buildings yearly within the US.
A undertaking spokesperson stated research are “underway with worldwide companions to know animal and hen migration patterns and to evaluate how these may be mitigated.”
Flying taxis and robotic assistants are included within the plans for the 200-m-wide megacity, which planners time period ‘Zero Gravity Urbanism’ as a transfer towards city sprawl. In his 2022 presentation on the undertaking, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stated The Line would function high-speed rail as a complete alternative for vehicles.
A promotional video launched by Saudi Arabia means that 9 million folks might stay alongside The Line, which types a part of the broader ‘NEOM’ city undertaking. This is a part of the dominion’s ambition to host 100 million folks in all by 2040.
