In the summer of 2012, the Greater flamingo successfully bred once again at Al Wathba Wetland Reserve with 17 chicks fledging successfully.
The report released by Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak, EAD’s Secretary General, documents its efforts in protecting the environment of the emirate.
It highlights the measures taken in environmental regulatory and policy framework, conservation of ground water and biodiversity, ensuring clean air and minimising climate change and its impacts, and promoting sustainable communities.
The agency succeeded in protecting approximately 60,000 square metres of mangroves on Al Reem Island after learning of a developer’s illegal attempt to clear the area.
An environmental protection and awareness plan at the Eastern Mangroves in Abu Dhabi was also implemented last year. Two patrols are operated in the area daily to monitor the ecological conditions.
Mohammad Al Bowardi, EAD’s Managing Director, said : “Today, the emirate of Abu Dhabi is witnessing a development boom, thus EAD has further strengthened its regulatory and enforcement framework that focuses on tackling the main issues, in partnership with governmental institutions and non-governmental organisations as well as the academia and private sector.”
The EAD secretary general said: “The report highlights how working towards sustainable development is at the very core of our operations. The year 2012 saw us introduce new scientific methodologies and advanced technologies to better address the environmental challenges facing the emirate of Abu Dhabi,” Al Mubarak said.
The EAD has designed a public health recreational beach water quality monitoring programme for continuous monitoring of the beaches. It monitors water quality weekly at popular swimming beaches.
An Emergency Operations Centre to deal with environmental hazards was also unveiled.
Construction of 22 (of a planned 30) solar desalination plants in different locations was also completed, which use innovative zero-carbon technology to transform brackish saline water into fresh potable water.
The agency successfully trans-located 20 Arabian oryx to Wadi Rum, Jordan, as a continuation of the General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Reintroduction Initiative.
Four dugongs from Al Yasat Marine Protected Area and Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve were successfully tagged for tracking for further studies. Paperless Day was commemorated on November 21 and saw close to 300,000 participants save nearly 14 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
EAD continued its campaign against plastic bags, urging the public to switch to reusable bags and reached out to more shoppers in key malls.
A bilingual enviro-portal was also introduced to give users access to spatial environmental information that EAD has been collecting since the early 1990s.
