Emirates eco group plants 2,121 native trees in Ajman

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

The Emirates Environmental Group concluded the year 2023, also known as the “Year of Sustainability” with its annual tree planting campaign “For Our Emirates We Plant”. This significant event took place on the unique date 23.12.23 at the pristine Al Naseem Reserve, Al Manama, Ajman. The campaign was conducted in partnership with the Ajman Municipality and witnessed the participation of nearly 2,000 people from the academic sector, the corporate sector, the government entities and the society at large.

They collectively planted 2,121 native saplings of Ghaf, Samar and Sidr trees, promoting the biodiversity of the reserve and enhancing its resilience.

Habiba Al Mar’ashi, Co-founder and Chairperson of EEG thanked Ajman Municipality for their support and said, “These urban afforestation programmes in addition to providing a habitat for the local wildlife to thrive, also act as a natural carbon sink; which effectively contribute to the mitigation of carbon emissions in the country and help accelerate the progress towards achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals – particularly SDG #11 – Sustainable Cities and Comunities, #13 – Climate Action and #15 – Life on Land.

These impactful programmes are the collective effort by all sectors of the society and all entities who have gathered here today.” She continued, “Since the inception of this campaign, EEG has planted a total of 2,125,604 trees across the UAE including the ones going to be planted today. These trees are sequestering more than 12,534.05 MT of CO2 emissions annually which is equivalent to removing 2,671 cars off the road for one year.

 Habiba Al Marashi says the urban afforestation programmes act as a natural carbon sink.

This year, a total of 11,288 trees have been planted in UAE and next year, we will aim to plant more. She emphasised these outcomes were achieved with the effective partnership between Emirates Environmental Group and all the entities and organisations that have participated in our different waste management programmes and the adopt a tree project.

This year, a total of 161 companies, 79 schools, and 184 families joined and planted trees under their names. EEG appreciates the support received from several corporate members. Mrs. Habiba concluded her speech by thanking Aster Volunteers in particular for setting up a medical tent. Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) is a professional working group established in 1991 in the United Arab Emirates. It is devoted to protecting the environment through the means of education, action programmes and community involvement.

EEG is actively encouraged and supported by concerned local and federal government agencies. It is the first environmental NGO in the world to be ISO 14001 certified and the only organisation of its kind in the UAE with accredited status to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). EEG is a member of the UN Global Compact, the Global Urban Development (GUD) and the Global Investors for Sustainable Alliance (GISD).

It is also a member of the One Planet Network under the programme of Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) and its Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) and Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML), EEG is a full Member (voting) of World Packaging Organisation (WPO).