The Municipality and Planning Department – Ajman (MPDA) has announced its implementation of the “Mangrove Alliance From Ajman” Initiative, held in the Al Zorah Natural Reserve, in conjunction with the 7th Ajman International Environment Conference.
The event eyed the participation of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCC), the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the Al Dhafra Municipality, 15 schools, 300 male and female students, and a host of Red Crescent volunteers.
In this context, Engineer Khaled Moeen Al Hosani, the MPDA’s Executive Director of the Public Health and Environment Sector, asserted that the Department decided to execute the Initiative in cooperation with its partners; the MOCC and ADNOC.
The Initiative targeted planting around15,000 mangrove seedlings, as part of the strategy geared towards getting mangrove trees to one million by 2030 in Ajman, Eng. Al Hosani noted, adding that the Initiative also supports the State’s strategy and achieves a sustainable, low-carbon future.
Eng. Al Hosani added that the goals of the Mangrove Alliance are to expand the areas of mangrove trees in natural reserves, to find nature-based solutions, as mangrove trees play great part in curbing carbon emissions.
Relying on nature-based solutions against environmental challenges is one of the key pillars on which the UAE relies amid its interest in climate action locally and globally, as expanded growth of mangrove forests is deemed one of the most important of these solutions, Eng. Al Hosani said.
It is noteworthy that the MPDA seeks to make Ajman a carbon neutral city through several initiatives, including the Mangrove Alliance, single-use plastic bags ban, Ajman Carbon-Neutral Path Initiative, and other positive initiatives.