BAHRAIN’S “mangrove mission” is on track, with the plantation coverage set to quadruple across coastal areas by 2035 as part of plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060, according to a top minister.
Municipalities Affairs and Agriculture Minister Wael Al Mubarak said it was a challenging figure for a small island but he was confident that Team Bahrain would achieve it.
He was speaking on the “Mangrove Project” at a Rotary Club of Manama meeting at the Gulf Convention Centre yesterday.
Mangrove forests store high densities of organic carbon and are often referred to as a “nature-based solution” to tackling the climate crisis.
Last month, on World Environment Day, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, announced a doubling of the previously announced target of 230,000 mangrove plantations this year to 460,000, reflecting Bahrain’s commitment to the 26th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) goals (COP26).
“The project is going very well,” added Mr Al Mubarak.
“The target for 2022 was achieved by planting more than 150,000 trees. And we are set to achieve our target this year of 460,000 plantations by December.”
He said that mangroves, which are a local plant species in Bahrain, have many benefits. The shrubs or trees grow typically along coastlines and tidal rivers, and can easily adapt to take in extra oxygen and remove salt, which allows them to thrive in conditions that would kill most plants.
They provide natural infrastructure to help protect nearby populated areas by reducing erosion and absorbing storm surge impacts and they are also important to the ecosystem. Their dense roots help bind and build soils.
“So far for this year, we have achieved more than 57 per cent of our mangrove targets and 44.6pc of our trees target,” added Mr Al Mubarak.
“In one year, we have created a big nursery in Tubli and another in Ras Hayyan.”
The Tubli nursery can reportedly occupy more than one million trees per season and the one in Ras Hayyan can include more than 100,000 trees per season.
Meanwhile, the club’s new president Renuka Nambiar said: “A major focus of Rotary Club of Manama this year is environment and we will help increase the mangrove coverage by partnering with the ministry during my presidency.”
Agriculture and Marine Resources Under-Secretary Dr Khalid Ahmed Hassan pointed out that today His Majesty the King’s Personal Representative and Supreme Council for Environment president Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa will participate in the second part of planting in Umm An Nasan island.
“We will also hopefully achieve our targets by the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28) which will be the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in November in the UAE,” said Dr Hassan.
“It will show Bahrain’s approach to reaching zero level of carbon emissions; it’s a long way to go, but we will achieve it.”
Also present at the meeting was assistant under-secretary for marine resources Hussain Makki, municipal affairs under-secretary Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, assistant under-secretary of agriculture Mohammed Mirza Al Oraibi, assistant under-secretary of livestock Dr Ibrahim Yousif and MP Ahmed Al Saloom.
Past district governor Mazen Alumran said it was agreed that the money gathered during his year as district governor would be spent on an environmental project.
“Hopefully, we will soon sign a memorandum of understanding with Dr Hassan to start the mangrove project.”
The International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem to raise awareness on the shrub will be held on July 26.
mai@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))