Patience & Persistence pays: Mangroves in the UAE

The environment is getting spoilt day by day, there is a lot of degradation. We are losing Land & marine species, we are losing mangroves in many parts of the world. In such a challenging scenario it is very heartening to note that the overall mangrove plantation in the UAE has doubled. UAE has the honor to have almost 50% of all the mangroves in the middle east, rather whole of the Arabian gulf coast. Earlier the mangroves were spread over 40 Square kilometers covering UAE coastline on The Arabian Gulf and on the Gulf of Oman coast, at Khor Kalba. Now their spread has increased to 79 Square kilometers. This comprises 48% of total mangroves in the region. This has happened over past 2-3 decades.

EAD: The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has undertaken an intensive plantation & conservation programme. This was initiated 4 decades ago by the Founding Father of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The political will & Government participation was so intense that such a phenomenon has happened in such a dismal state of the World Environment. This proves that Patience & Persistence pays the rich dividends over the period of time. Rome was not built in a day.

Mangroves protect the shorelines, reduces erosion from waves & storms. Provides sand protection from waves and water movement. They also serve as a heaven for coral reefs. They maintain water quality and clarity, filtering pollutants and trapping sediments originating from land. They are an important part of our eco-system.

My school took a tour of the mangroves and other protected areas at the Khor Kalba coast. I was fortunate to a part of the delegation & will share my pictures in a separate report. That was another memorable experience. The mangroves augmentation has been covered by many newspapers in the UAE. I am providing the links for a ready reference & for detailed reading:

https://www.thenational.ae/uae/uae-mangroves-the-largest-in-the-gulf-study-finds-1.700895

http://www.emirates247.com/lifestyle/uae-mangroves-the-largest-in-the-gulf-study-finds-2018-02-02-1.664808

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoMrLYJOdA4

Thanks for reading.