ID: 1758
Presenting Author: Rayan Munshi
Session: 527 - The importance of effective communication for Impact Assessments
Status: pending
The paper highlights RSG sustainable development within AlWajh Lagoon, demonstrating how integrated compliance and communication ensure transparency, regulatory alignment, ecosystem protection
Project development in environmentally sensitive areas faces the dual challenge of meeting tight approval timelines while ensuring transparency, accuracy, and environmental accountability. These pressures can create uncertainty as project designs evolve, increasing risks of misinformation and reduced stakeholder confidence.
Drawing on RSG experience within and around the Al Wajh Lagoon Marine Protected Area—an IUCN Category VI site of national and international importance—this paper presents RSG’s innovative marine and terrestrial environmental compliance frameworks. Developed collaboratively across environmental, delivery, and corporate teams, these frameworks align with Saudi environmental regulations and international best practices.
The Al Wajh Lagoon hosts diverse ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass meadows, and critical habitats for endangered species. As both steward and developer, RSG bears a dual responsibility: enabling sustainable tourism while preserving the lagoon’s ecological integrity through strong governance.
A cornerstone of this governance is “Compliance Communication,” an adaptive and transparent mechanism for continuous exchange between regulators, contractors, and environmental teams. It ensures environmental performance, permit conditions, and mitigation measures are monitored, reported, and embedded.
Through applying these models in ESIA processes across Saudi Arabia, RSG demonstrates how early engagement, iterative communication, and integrated compliance strategies support informed, timely, and credible decision-making
Rayan Talal Munshi, a young Saudi environmental engineer who works with RSG in one of the most ambitious regenerative tourism development projects and ensure environmental stewardship
Coauthor 1: Rajay Patel