Rewrapping the UAE Coast in Mangroves

Founded in 2001 as the first WWF office with a permanent Middle East presence, Emirates Nature-WWF runs a multi-year Nature-based Solutions project restoring mangrove and coastal ecosystems across the Northern Emirates, working with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, and the Government of Umm Al Quwain. The project restored 8 hectares of mangrove ecosystems in 2024 alone against a goal of 10 hectares over six years, and now tracks ecosystem health through a purpose-built remote-sensing monitoring dashboard. Mangroves sequester carbon at roughly four times the rate of tropical rainforest while sheltering endangered turtles, seabirds, sharks and rays along the UAE coast. Over its 25-year history the organization has mobilized more than 5,000 volunteers through citizen science and supported sustainable farming and fishing practices nationwide.