Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi has a great wall to protect it from possible natural calamities originating from the sea. The wall can also mitigate climate change.
Mangroves on the eastern corniche and on the small islands close to Abu Dhabi island guarantee the protection of developmental projects on the coastal areas including real estate projects from natural calamities from the sea, officials of Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD), said.
"You can remember that it was not the concrete buildings or walls but mangroves withstood the deadly Tsunami waves in 2004 in many affected countries," Thabit Al Abdul Salam, Director of Biodiversity Management Sector at EAD, said.
He spoke to journalists during a media tour to the new mangrove plantations on Saadiyat and Jubail Islands. Mangroves mitigate the climate change by absorbing carbon from the environment, Abdul Salam added.
Numbers
-800,000 mangrove plants planted on Saadiyath and Jubail islands
-72 square kilometre mangrove cover in Abu Dhabi
-Abu Dhabi has the second largest mangroves coverage in the Gulf region after Iran (Iran has around 90 square kilometre)
