In line with the UAE’s Year of Sustainability and to ensure the best use of Abu Dhabi’s natural resources, the Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) have joined forces under a new agreement.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) will foster effective cooperation on ground water, soil, and biodiversity projects to protect the natural environment in support of the emirate’s sustainable development.
The MoU is intended to facilitate the collaboration of both parties to jointly explore, design and implement specific projects, such as: the use of green energy innovations in forestry and green areas. The objective is to reduce the negative impacts associated with traditional energy sources, like fossil fuels, in operating irrigation systems. The agreement also aims to monitor rangelands and rehabilitate sites to enhance biomass for livestock and wildlife.
Both signatories will also share data, enabling them to leverage ICBA’s available maps and data and integrate them into EAD’s own proprietary information for enhanced analysis. The wide-ranging cooperation also includes seed sharing and exchange, with a focus on native plants from Abu Dhabi and other areas of the United Arab Emirates, promoting diversity through exchange programmes. Similarly, EAD and ICBA will conduct research on drought-resistant species to identify plants that can enhance habitat restoration efforts and will leverage ICBA’s research on marginal lands to minimise water resource use, while also building capacity by developing skills in modern irrigation systems, water management, and harvesting programmes.
The entities will also adopt advanced technologies and best practices for efficient water use and deploy remote-sensing and drone technologies to monitor habitats and assess environmental quality. The partnership will develop applied research on reject brine from desalination, conduct an investigation on hydroponics and best practices for managing forage crops to optimise groundwater use, and conduct biochar research on remediating contaminated land and study the substance’s effects on the presence of heavy metals in soil.
Furthermore, both parties will study the use of biochar in reducing water requirements and carbon sequestration in soil and study its long-term impact on soil biodiversity, natural vegetation and wild plant species. Additionally, EAD and ICBA will share expertise and build capacity in the fields of gene sequencing, data analysis, and in understanding the relationship between genetic information and plant characteristics and performance.
The MoU also involves restoration programmes for dryland-adapted varieties of native plant species and collaborate on the integration of UAV technologies into these programmes. To enhance educational awareness, both EAD and ICBA will cooperate on developing interactive electronic educational resources with a focus on topics related to land degradation and strategies for its prevention. They will also partner on planning initiatives, and in research projects, conducting and publishing the project outcomes to support the preservation of a sustainable environment and explore environmental issues of local and regional significance.