2024-07-18 09:59:52
Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative (ADMI) is part of the national project, which by 2030 100 million will be planted in the UAE. mangrove trees.
Only in 2023 this initiative has distributed more than six million seeds using specially adapted drones. Each drone carries up to 6,000 Avicennia marina seeds whose seeding system throws them down, ensuring that they become trapped in the tidal silt and can reproduce successfully.
Drones fly the seeds in a natural pattern to give the seedlings the best chance to grow. “Everything is autonomous,” says Cory Rhodes of Distant Imagery, a company that designs and operates drones for the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency. “Everything is planted only in the places where there is the greatest chance of growth,” he says.
“We don’t plant in straight lines, we don’t plant in any of the basins or canals, and the system takes into account the trees that are already there to turn the system off and on. When everything is finished, it’s like the most natural forest we can create,” says the specialist.
A team of scientists is helping the project by identifying the best site for protection and restoration by assessing soil conditions, water quality, circulation and flood inundation levels at each prospective site, then monitoring them for several years.
“Our main priority is first to protect what exists naturally, and then to improve it a bit with science-based restoration efforts,” says Nessrine Alzahlawi, a scientist at the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency. – We do not seek to create new habitats, replace existing natural habitats or undertake large-scale reforestation. We’re trying to restore or enhance natural ecosystems in a science-based way.”
It is hoped that the knowledge gained from the ADMI project will be applied in other mangrove growing regions. “Mangroves are real climate superheroes,” says Andrew Terry, director of conservation and policy at the Zoological Society of London, project partner. – There are about 147,000 square kilometers of mangroves left in the world, but historically they have been under great pressure. We were keen to work with our colleagues in the UAE to bring this knowledge and support to the ground in the most biodiversity-rich places in the world.”
Parengta pagal „New Scientist“.
2024-07-18 09:59:52