The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has initiated steps to start Plant Genetic Resources Centre following the approval of the agency?s board of directors. Recent studies conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Water together with EAD estimates there are 755 plant species in UAE grouped under 81 different families. Around 400 of these are found in Abudhabi alone.

The Centre is expected to start in 2017.The purpose of the centre is to collect and document native plants so that if any species became extinct in the wild it could be cultivated in captivity and reintroduced back to nature.

EAD is implementing the project in association with the UAE University (UAEU), the Ministry of Environment and Water, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), the Environment and Protected Areas Authority - Sharjah (EPPA), the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), and the Department of Municipal Affairs. This project is a unique one in the Middle East.

Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, EAD Secretary General, has said that this national project  will position the UAE as a global leader in environmental conservation and sustainable development. ?It also enhances rehabilitation programmes and supports reintroduction programmes of endangered species,? she said.

Dr. Shaikha Salem Al Daheri, Executive Director - Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity Sector at the EAD said: ?Some of the plant species in the UAE are considered as natural resources for some growing crops in different parts of the world, which increases their importance on a global scale. We need to conserve these native plant species and use them sustainably through the establishment of the ?Gene Bank? for plants genetic resources. In the long run, the project will also include direct and indirect economic returns,? she said.