Dubai’s shoreline could undergo a significant change with the introduction of over 100 million mangrove trees, as outlined by a developer committed to sustainability.
The Dubai Mangroves initiative is pioneering and has the potential to establish new benchmarks in reviving coastal areas.
URB, the force behind the Dubai Reefs Project and The Loop in Dubai, leads the effort.
The Dubai Mangroves initiative seeks to fuse ecological conservation with urban expansion, enriching Dubai’s coastline by planting over 100 million mangrove trees across 72 kilometres.
This proposition is in harmony with the city’s environmental aspirations and the objectives of the Dubai 2040 Master Plan, emphasising urban resilience, biodiversity, and sustainable development.
Central to this endeavour are mangroves, renowned for their unique capacity to trap carbon, shield coastal regions from erosion, and sustain marine life and food sources.
With the potential to capture around 12.3 kilograms of CO2 annually per tree, the entire initiative could sequester 1.23 million tonnes of CO2 yearly, equivalent to the emissions of over 260,000 gasoline-powered cars annually.
Baharash Bagherian, CEO of URB, remarked:
“The Dubai Mangroves initiative illustrates how urban and environmental innovation can synergise to serve as a blueprint for cities globally, showcasing the transformative influence of melding ecological conservation with urban expansion.”
“However, this endeavour transcends coastal rehabilitation or resilience; it epitomises establishing an international benchmark for harmonising planetary needs with human requirements.”
The project also encompasses various educational and entertainment facilities, such as the Mangrove Visitor Hub, designed to inform and involve the community and visitors about the significance of mangroves and broader environmental issues confronting our planet.
The Hub, alongside the Botanical Museum and the Nature Reserve Conservation Centre, will function as hubs for research, education, and advocacy, fostering environmental stewardship among residents and tourists alike.
The initiative is presently in the research phase, with six pilot design studies proposed for selected areas.
Each zone will demonstrate how a variety of infrastructural components can be seamlessly integrated with mangrove restoration initiatives to establish versatile coastal landscapes offering ecological, recreational, and aesthetic advantages.
