People can now enjoy the best of Abu Dhabi’s rich biodiversity thanks to the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi’s (EAD) the new smartphone app – “Collector for ArcGIS” – which allows users to document the wildlife and plants.

 

Over the past few years, and as part of its efforts to protect the Emirates’ biodiversity, EAD has been surveying plants and animals across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The information gathered helps the Agency to better account for, plan, preserve and manage Abu Dhabi’s biodiversity.

 

The use of modern technology such as the Geographic Information System (GIS) has been an integral part of EAD’s work since its inception.

 

With this initiative EAD aims to increase public participation and engagement in preserving the natural heritage. Besides being a mapping exercise, this app will provide a platform for the public to showcase their passion for the rich biodiversity that we are privileged to have in our Emirate.

 

Through downloading the “Collector for ArcGIS”, which is available on smartphones for free (including iPhone or Android), the public can take pictures of animals and plants which then get translated into a graphic representation on a map using GIS. This data is then fed into a centralized database that gets updated in real-time.

 

The app is very user-friendly and fun to navigate. People just need to enter the following one time login details – Username: EADECO, Password: abudhabi and then simply enjoy the best of our flora and fauna.

 

EAD had previously launched this technology in schools as a part of the Sustainable Schools Initiative to assist students in their biodiversity surveys within (for the Green Audit component of SSI) and outside of their schools (for the field trips component of SSI). The app allowed for a more comprehensive and accurate data gathering exercise.

 

This technology was also used when students took part in EAD’s data collection for its terrestrial baseline survey, which was aimed at collecting formation on Abu Dhabi’s terrestrial biodiversity and ecosystems throughout all seasons.