Will Dubai be dust-proof in 10 years? Municipality unveils ambitious project

Before you dismiss this suggestion, consider this: An ambitious Dubai Municipality project aims at doing just that – it plans to drastically increase the green cover across the emirate, thereby making Dubai dust-proof.

The civic body has initiated various measures to increase the number of Ghaf trees throughout the emirate, especially in the desert.

Ahmad Abdul Karim, Director, Public Parks and Horticulture Department, Dubai Municipality, says the increase in the number of Ghaf trees – considered as the national tree of the UAE – could result in three-pronged effect on Dubai’s weather: reduce dust storms, decrease the temperature and increase the oxygen levels within the desert.

“We are adopting various strategies to increase the green cover and Ghaf is one of them,” he says.

Explaining the initiatives to protect the existing Ghafs he says, “There is a very strict policy in place and those found cutting a Ghaf plant or a tree will be fines Dh500 to Dh1,000. If a tree is totally damaged, the person could face a fine of up to Dh50,000,” he added.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, he also requested the public to immediately report any violation to the Dubai Municipality.

Even individuals within whose compound the Ghaf tree is located are not authorised to cut them. “They will require a special Dubai Municipality permission to do so,” he adds.

There are various ongoing initiatives to protect and popularize the Ghaf Tree, including various online initiatives like www.savetheghaftree.com and www.giveaghaf.com, the latter an initiative of Goumbook.

According to Tatiana Antonelli Abella, co-founder of Goumbook, the tree is ideally suited for the desert environment and consumes less than 10 per cent of groundwater compared with other exotic trees and plans that we find in many parts of Dubai.

They in partnership with Canon Middle East were also instrumental in planting almost 4,000 Ghaf seeds at a nursery in Al Barari on Saturday (May 10, 2013).

It was an initiative that was recently launched by Canon, which promised to plant one tree for every Canon product sold during the recently concluded Gitex Shopper.

“Our initial estimate was to plant about 1,000 trees but we have far exceeded the target,” says Anurag Agrawal, Managing Director, Canon Middle East.

Speaking on the occasion, Abella said: “Yes, the intensity of a lot of these dust storms could be reduced if the Dubai Municipality’s plan to envelope the city with Ghaf trees becomes true. The tree has multiple other benefits as even its roots are used for medicinal purpose,” she adds.

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