Hundreds of mangrove saplings planted in Dubai reserve
dubai — Over 500 people, mostly children, marked World Wetlands Day at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary, where they planted hundreds of mangrove saplings.
Although World Wetlands Day falls on February 2 every year, the waste management department of the Dubai Municipality (DM) marked it over the weekend so that more people could join in the celebrations.
A series of events under the theme ‘Wetlands and Climate Change’ were held, aiming to raise awareness on the importance of wetlands and intensifying efforts to protect ecosystems and biodiversity.
“The celebration of Wetlands Day … is aimed at promoting the responsible use of wetland resources by organising local, regional and national activities, as well as forging international cooperation,” the DM said in a statement.
As part of the activities, a film about wetlands was also screened at City Centre Mirdif and DM officials visited two primary schools to give students a glimpse of the rich biodiversity found in reserves.
The celebration of Wetlands Day featured an ‘Environmental Tolerance’ activity, during which trees were planted at Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary on February 8. Another session will be done at Jebel Ali Wildlife Sanctuary on February 15, with public participation.
From 8am to 10am, children, parents and volunteers happily planted mangrove saplings by the lake.
One of the biggest groups that participated in the session was from the non-government organisation Green Globe, which saw about 200 people put up environment awareness posters along with planting mangroves. Excited youngsters Hatim, 13, and Harith, 8, were the front-runners in grabbing their gloves from the DM and getting their share of saplings.
“We’ve already taken part in many environment events but we’ve never planted mangroves until now, so it was a fascinating experience.”
“We also got some jute bags from the DM as their way of saying ‘thank you’ and reminding us to say no to plastics.”
Another volunteer, Abuthahir Ali, HR staff member at Al Najma Al Fareeda Group, said: “We have brought in over 300 students and parents to plant these saplings with the aim of doing our bit to keep the city green and make the environment safe for our children and future generations.”
Heba, a parent who was present with her two little ones, said: “Through such initiatives my kids are getting a chance to understand how to protect the environment at a young age.”