Abu Dhabi: Green areas in the capital are set to grow by 40 per cent by 2014 and provide a per capita greenery share of 25 square metres, an official told Gulf News yesterday on the sidelines of the official launch of Afforestation Week.
Rashid Mubarak Al Hajiri, Chairman of the Department of Municipal Affairs (DMA), launched Afforestation Week under the theme ‘Together we plant the UAE.' The event was held at Formal Park in the capital.
Al Hajiri visited the photograph and plant exhibition halls with Khalifa Al Mazroui, general manager of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, and Ahmad Sharif, DMA undersecretary.
Engineer Mohammad Khalaf Al Mazroui, head of Executive Parks and Recreation Facilities at the municipality, said the capital had more than 1,200 hectares of green cover with a per capita share of 18 square metres.
"That will be increased to [a] per capita share of 25 square [metres] by 2014", he said.
Per capita greenery is the result of the total area of green areas divided by the size of the population. This means there will be 25 square metres of green cover for every resident of the capital by 2014.
Green cover includes tree plantations, parks and landscaping on the streets.
Giant footsteps
Eng Al Mazroui said the municipality was following what had been started by Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan 30 years ago.
He said five pocket parks would be opened this month, in fulfilment of pledges to open a park in each residential area. The total number of pocket parks will rise to 12 as seven more are scheduled to be opened later this year. Eng Al Mazroui also revealed plans to build 30 more playgrounds this year.
The municipality's general manager said the launch of Afforestation Week came in the wake of the municipality winning the Greenery Prize at the 10th edition of the Arab Towns Organisation Award, held in Doha, Qatar, last month.
He said the award showcased Abu Dhabi's achievements in this regard and said that the capital's efforts had resulted in 3.6 million people visiting fenced parks in 2009.
Honour: Zayed Park on the cards
The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City is planning to build a unique covered park in the shape of a huge dome, which will be named after Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Engineer Mohammad Khalaf Al Mazroui, head of Executive Parks and Recreation Facilities at the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, said.
The new park will have several unique features, Eng Al Mazroui said. He added that the project was still in the planning stages and the location and other pertinent details were yet to be finalised.
Green cover in Abu Dhabi
- 1200 hectares green cover in capital
- 18 square meter per capita greenery (existing)
- 40 per cent green cover to increase by 2014
- 25 square meter per capita greenery by 2014
New Parks and Play grounds in Abu Dhabi Island (numbers):
- 1.2 million Visitors in 2009 to fenced parks
- 12 more parks in 2010
- 5 pocket parks to open in March 2010.
- 7 more pocket parks to add in 2010
- 30 more play grounds to add in 2010
