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Good practice Imported

Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative — Blue Carbon Restoration & Monitoring Programme

United Arab Emirates · Abu Dhabi · See the United Arab Emirates profile · See the Abu Dhabi profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 47% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Abu Dhabi's environment agency has planted tens of millions of mangroves since 2015, expanding cover to roughly 17,600 ha; EAD reports the emirate's blue-carbon ecosystems store about 41 million tonnes of carbon, backed by new national restoration guidelines.

14,117 to 17,600 hectares
Mangrove cover expansion (2015-present)
23 million trees
Trees planted (previous 2 years)
~9,200 hectares
Area covered by recent planting
~233,000 tonnes CO2/year
Projected annual CO2 sequestration once established
~41 million tonnes carbon
Total blue-carbon storage
100 million trees
Planting target (by 2030)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) / Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative (ADMI) / Emirates Nature-WWF / ADNOC / Department of Municipalities and Transport
Period
2015-present
Keywords
blue carbon, mangrove restoration, coastal ecosystems, carbon accounting, government-led NbS

Context

The Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative is a government-led blue-carbon restoration and monitoring programme run by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) since 2015, building on mangrove work EAD has carried out since the 1970s. Partners include Emirates Nature-WWF, ADNOC, the Department of Municipalities and Transport, and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, who have jointly published national Mangrove Restoration Guidelines for the United Arab Emirates.

Objectives

The programme aims to expand and protect mangrove cover along the Abu Dhabi coastline as a nature-based climate solution, targeting 100 million trees planted by 2030, and to move toward independent, third-party-verified carbon accounting.

Activities

Activities include large-scale mangrove planting in partnership with ADNOC and the Department of Municipalities and Transport, coastal ecosystem protection, and the development of a national restoration methodology and monitoring framework.

Results

Mangrove cover has expanded from 14,117 to 17,600 hectares (176 km²) since 2015, including 23 million trees planted across roughly 9,200 hectares in the two years before reporting. Once established, these areas are projected to sequester about 233,000 tonnes of CO2 per year, with total blue-carbon storage currently estimated at around 41 million tonnes of carbon.

Conclusions

These figures are agency-reported and not yet certified by an independent carbon standard such as Verra or Gold Standard, and Evidoria's own review notes limited site-specific biodiversity and soil/water measurements to date.

Implementation
Indicative cost
High (€500k–€5M) — No published budget was found; large-scale multi-agency planting (23 million trees over two years) with a 100-million-tree target by 2030 implies substantial national investment — categorised as high cost.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — The programme has run since 2015 (building on EAD mangrove work since the 1970s) and targets 2030 and beyond — categorised as long.
Staffing & skills
Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) — lead agency, Emirates Nature-WWF — NGO partner, ADNOC — corporate partner (planting), Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) — planting partner, Ministry of Climate Change and Environment — national guideline co-publisher

Conditions for success

  • Multi-agency coordination (EAD, ADNOC, DMT, Ministry, Emirates Nature-WWF)
  • National standardised restoration guidelines
  • Sustained government funding/commitment toward the 100-million-tree 2030 target

Common failure modes

  • Reliance on agency self-reported figures without independent third-party carbon-standard verification
  • Limited site-specific biodiversity and soil/water measurement

Where it fits

Governance type
national government-led programme with corporate and NGO partners
Scale
national/coastal (thousands of hectares)
Income level
high-income (UAE)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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