Vegetation rehabilitation programs
Hafeet Reserve ... a unique mountain environment and a tremendous biodiversity
Jebel Hafeet National Reserve is the most important site in terms of biodiversity in the country, and it is suitable for the livelihood of a wide range of organisms and natural plants.
Archives
picture
The Jabal Hafeet National Park Reserve, in the Al Ain region, is of great value as it is the only and unique mountainous environment in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, which has an area of 81 square kilometers and is rich in biological diversity, and it is one of the declared reserves within the Zayed Network of Natural Reserves in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Ahmed Ismail Al Hashimi, Acting Executive Director of the Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity Sector at the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi, said that the reserve was established in 2017, by an Emiri decree, and is considered a national park, according to the standards of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). And it is considered one of the most important environments in the country and the region as a whole.
Al-Hashemi indicated that the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi has made great efforts, since assuming the management of the reserve and assuming its responsibility, through research, monitoring and evaluation processes, in addition to enforcement of legislation, continuous monitoring, cooperation and integration with the agency's partners from various governmental and private agencies in managing the reserve.
He pointed out that the authority carries out monitoring and monitoring operations, through observers and the use of modern technology and surveillance cameras in monitoring operations, especially the types of animals that are difficult to monitor in normal conditions, and which only appear in the evening or on the mountain slopes.
Al-Hashemi emphasized that the authority has implemented many programs to rehabilitate the vegetation cover, through the cultivation of brown trees, and a number of endangered species of plants, through the authority's nursery, where the authority is working on the completion of the most important project to rehabilitate the vegetation cover in the Jebel Hafeet Reserve, especially Samer trees, as the authority aims to plant 10 thousand brown trees in the reserve, with an area of 18 hectares.
He explained that the importance of this project for the reserve lies in the rehabilitation of this habitat, which was previously presented, before the authority assumed responsibility for managing some of the influences, through development projects and logging operations, and the project also aims to rehabilitate life in this area, which is a major source of the natural system for many Of the animals in the area, and the authority is currently irrigating this area, and within a year, the amount of water will be systematically and gradually reduced, so that these plants depend on themselves, return to practice their life cycle and are renewed naturally.
The Acting Executive Director of the Land and Marine Biodiversity Sector at the Environment Agency in Abu Dhabi stated that among the most important future programs in the reserve are programs related to environmental tourism and enhancing its value to the community, indicating that there are many ecotourism opportunities that the authority is working on with its partners, and the most important of which is giving an experience For tourists and visitors to practice activities and sports that enable them to experience close to nature, and see the types of plants and animals that abound in the reserve, in addition to education and research programs with universities and schools, noting that many universities organize field visits for students to study the biodiversity in the reserve.
For his part, Ali Khamis Al Shamsi, director of the reserve, said that the Jabal Hafeet National Park Reserve is the most important site in terms of biodiversity in the country, and it is suitable for the livelihood of a large group of living creatures and natural plants, as the reserve hosts 42% of the plants registered in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. And it represents 25% of the registered species at the state level, where 181 species of plants were recorded, such as: Samer trees, Sidr and wild figs, and 13 species of mammals were also recorded in the reserve, such as: the Arabian Tahr, the lynx, the spiny mouse and the Afghan fox, and 140 species of Birds, such as: the Egyptian eagle, the stone birds, the shaheen, and 13 types of reptiles such as the stone gecko, the horned snake and the Sinai Harpoon.
It is noteworthy that the reserve is rich in a number of endangered plants and organisms, such as the dwarf palm, which is naturally limited to two sites at the state level, one of which is in the Jebel Hafeet reserve, in addition to the cage tree and the khansur plant, and the horned snake is considered one of the rarest types of snakes. It was recorded only three times during the past two decades, and the endangered Egyptian eagle is considered an exclusively breeding species in the reserve at the state level.
Plants and organisms are endangered, such as: the dwarf palm, the Afghan fox, and the Egyptian vulture.
Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news