Traditional knowledge is vital for sustainability of natural resources including forests, water, and agroecosystems across landscape spanning from households, farms, village and wilderness. My parents always inspire me to be rooted to our traditions and way of living. Traditional way of living leads to well-being of human society that is in turn closely related to the well-being of natural ecosystems. Traditional Science of sustainability is very much dependent on the knowledge of local people of the area.

The traditions are also reflected in a variety of practices regarding the use and management of trees, forests and water. These include:

• Collection and management of wood and non-wood forest products
• Traditional ethics, norms and practices for restraint use of forests, water and other natural resources
• Traditional practices on protection, production and regeneration of forests.
• Cultivation of useful trees in cultural landscapes and agroforestry systems
• Creation and maintenance of traditional water harvesting systems such as tanks along with plantation of the tree groves in the proximity

Recently I read a story about a village in India. Located in one of the drought prone area, in the Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. This fairy tale journey began when the sarpanch of the village in 1990, managed to ban all addictive substances to minimize expenses and encouraged the villagers to invest in rain-water harvesting and cattle farming. In comparison to monthly per capita income of Rs. 830 in 1995, it grew up to Rs. 30,000 till 2012, resulting in 60 millionaires in the village.

Virtually all the countries of the world have rich traditions embedded in the ethics of protecting nature. Many ancient cultures tell us how communities lived in harmony with nature, with a tradition of reverence for the elements that constitute ecosytems, drawing their sustenance from natural resources and at the same time protecting the environment that sustains them. Modern man tends to look down upon indigenous people as primitive, backward and superstitious. They may be poor, illiterate, and disadvantaged in many other ways, but they have a tremendous understanding of ecosystems and the factors that sustain them.

Respect for nature is inherent in many religious faiths. Many Hindu gods and goddesses are shown to use animals as mounts. Sacred groves or sacred forests preserved with reverence have been part of Hindu and Buddhist culture. In Christianity as well as in Islam, conservation of the environment is based on the principle that nature and its components are created by God, and humans are entrusted with the responsibility of protecting it. Many religions and moral philosophies have professed the unity of all life on earth and the obligation of human beings to care for them.

Today, when people throughout the world are perturbed by the degradation of the environment and the disastrous consequences of this, traditional ethics of nature conservation could be looked upon as a source of inspiration and guidance for the future.

The United Arab Emirates is a predominantly arid land containing habitats and communities adapted to survive both small amounts of infrequent precipitation, and extremes of heat with consequent high evaporative losses. mankind has exploited the land now known as the UAE since the Late Stone Age, 7500 years Before Present (BP), although then the climate was wetter than it is today.

 UAE was a land of desert inhabited by proud and resourceful nomadic Bedouin tribes, fishing villages and date farms.  Abu Dhabi consisted of several hundred palm huts (barasti) huts, a few coral buildings and the Ruler's Fort.  Situated along the creek, Dubai was a trading hub, providing a safe haven before the Straits of Hormuz and beyond.  Life today in the Emirates bears little resemblance to that of 40 years ago.

The island of Dalma, as can be recalled by many still today, once provided drinking water to the fishing settlement which later grew to become the city of Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE.

In contrast to the past, when the human population was still small and natural resources were used sustainably without conscious effort, a burgeoning human population, increased longevity and commercial exploitation have over stressed the environment.

The relationship between Arab tradition and culture and the natural world is historically significant. The Holy Qur?an makes frequent reference to animals and plants and instructs all Muslims to study and appreciate living and non-living things around them. In such a harsh environment as exists in Arabia, where the vagaries of the weather make for additional uncertainty, people living in desert lands had frugal living, even during times of plenty when a surplus may have been available but resources were limited.

A land management system evolved to ensure lean periods could be weathered. Harim and hima lands were set aside (by individuals, communities or the state) for grazing only during drought, something which could be the norm rather than the exception. Nomadism was typical in many areas, to avoid overexploitation of available resources. Coastal communities were somewhat better off for food, although water supplies remained similarly scarce. Close to the Hajar Mountains, part of the UAE?s population once comprised pastoralists and farmers who retired to the hills in spring to cultivate terraced fields, but otherwise resided along the coast. Their lifestyle was not a choice, but a necessity, thrust upon the community by the severity of the environment. Modern times have brought inevitable changes, but many traditions survive. The tradition of falconry still , remains as popular as ever. Today, however, the hunt is not necessary to provide fresh meat as was formerly the case, while the chase itself is certainly more efficient. Captive-bred falcons are particularly popular, serving to assist in the conservation of wild-raised birds, while high-tech scientific studies and ecological research aim to ensure that any harvesting of wild birds is sustainable.

Mangroves is an integral part of traditional eco system of UAE coastline but it is constantly under threat of coastal development, pollution, sedimentation, changes in tidal flow and human impacted activities, primarily for charcoal, as fodder or other uses. In the last ten years, however, extensive planting of mangrove has been undertaken, often with considerable success. Mangrove plays a vital role in the life-cycle of many commercially valuable seafood species and provides a safe nesting, feeding and roosting site for many birds, waterfowl in particular.

Ghaf  trees Prosopis cineraria, trees, an indigenous species, is a drought – tolerant, evergreen tree which is, possibly, the sturdiest plant of the harsh desert environment In the UAE, it can be seen growing on low sand dunes, along margins of gravel plains mostly in the emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and RasAlKhaimah. 

The presence of ghaf in an area indicates that there is water underground. The tree taps water stored deep in the sand, its roots penetrating as deep as 30 metres to access it. Thus, ghaf is able to withstand very low rainfall and still stay green.

  Coral cover is high in the Gulf and Straits of Hormuz .The Arabian Sea and Arabian Gulf possess a variety of habitats: patch and fringing coral reefs, seagrass beds (Gulf only), islands, mangroves, khors (tidal inlets).

Turtles in UAE waters are of international importance. Green turtle, Chelonia mydas, and hawksbill, Eretmochelys imbricata, nest on a limited number of islands, while important feeding and probably nursery areas, with high densities of non-breeding or immature animals, are known in the waters of both the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Overgrazing, proliferation of invasive aliens, persecution and socio-economic changes, has led to the decline of traditional farming and land use practices. Most desert areas of the UAE are, much degraded as a direct result of overgrazing. Large scale conversion of desert rangeland to irrigated grass and crop land has encroached considerably on the desert in the past 25 years, while the tradition of nomadism is now a thing of the past.

The main areas of agricultural development in the UAE are in Abu Dhabi, Ra?s al-Khaimah and Sharjah.

 UAE agriculture is associated with the production of dates.

Since the modernization of the industry as part of the process of economic diversification, traditional low-intensity but labour intensive farming practices survive only in some mountain districts, as the country strives for self-sufficiency in food production. The UAE is currently estimated to be 30 per cent self-sufficient in agricultural products. Surplus production of certain vegetables and fruits is now exported fresh, canned, dried, frozen or pickled.

Forestry plantations has become the main environmental agenda of UAE. Afforestation, using a variety of native and exotic trees and shrubs, has transformed many areas of the desert. Plethora of non-government Organisations and individual groups have come up in support of environment sustainability of UAE.

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