Eye on Earth Summit in Abu Dhabi hosted a session organized by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) to present its portal www.afedmag.com. This comprehensive portal contains the complete archive of Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia (Environment & Development) magazine, covering 20 years of operation, making over 120,000 pages of references freely available to readers and researchers. The portal is updated daily, in English and Arabic, with environment news, articles and commentaries written by leading analysts and experts. Visitors average 1.5 million per month.

 

Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia was established by Najib Saab in 1996 as the first region-wide Arabic mass-circulation magazine on environment. Its articles are syndicated to 14 daily newspapers. It is now an official organ of AFED, the regional organization with a mission to advance prudent environmental policies and action in Arab countries based on science and awareness.

 

The portal provides links to AFED’s expert-written policy-oriented reports on the state Arab environment, that have become an authoritative source of information and data, along with documentaries related to these reports and other environmental awareness material. It also allows free download of environmental guidebooks, posters and green bulletins, and links to AFED’s environmental education website www.afed-ecoschool.org which includes 11 sections that showcase key environmental issues and has helped create over 500 school environment clubs.

 

The portal extends to a daily updated Facebook page www.facebook.com/afedmag with a huge popularity of 850,000 followers since it was launched in 2013.