Dubai
The UAE has an extensive network of coastal mangroves, which are under threat due to littering and pollution. Beachgoers leave behind tonnes of trash, which get swept out to the mangroves, choking their roots and killing them. The fish, turtles and birds living amongst these mangroves also die after ingesting this litter.
Since these mangroves are located off the coast, away from public view, local residents are unaware of the impact their littering has. To address this issue, members of Green Hope UAE have been working to raise community awareness and organising cleanup actions to rid the mangroves of their litter.
A team of 20 Green Hope members from schools and universities in Dubai, Sharjah and Al Ain kayaked to a mangrove belt on the eastern shoreline near Abu Dhabi. Armed with trash bags, the youth members foraged deep into the mangroves and collected huge amounts of litter.
Glass, cans, iron pipes, plastic items of all shapes and colour, rotting cardboard and even vehicle tyres were among the things that the young environmentalists collected. The team spent several hours inside the dense, thorny mangroves, reaching deep inside them to clean the trash. Over 100kg of trash was collected, which was loaded on to the kayaks at the end of the campaign and rowed to shore.
Over the coming weeks, we hope to hold workshops to share the experience with others and inspire the community to stop littering.
— The reader is the Dubai-based founder and president of the Green Hope UAE and a youth ambassador of the World Future Council.
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