Vahid Fotuhi is founder and chief executive of Blue Forest, a global developer of mangrove conservation and reforestation projects
June 08, 2022
During a recent Friday afternoon, I met with the local tribal chiefs and community members in Adiake, a breezy fishing village on the banks of the Gulf of Guinea in eastern Ivory Coast.
Sitting on firm wooden chairs by the coastline and looking onwards to the calm sea, we discussed my plans to plant 160,000 mangroves in a deforested area not far from where we were sitting. While the community members seemed receptive to the idea, it was clear that they were not entirely convinced.
“What happens after the seedlings are planted?” said one of the tribal heads with a stern voice. “Who will care for them for 10 years to make sure they grow to become healthy mature trees?”
This is a valid point. Most tree-planting projects look to cover only the cost of the planting and maybe a few years of monitoring.
“What happens if we help you plant them and in five years a public official decides to parcel off the area and sell it to developers?” pronounced another weary tribal official.
It’s a phenomenon that is not uncommon. The coastlines where mangroves grow are usually coveted by developers for real estate projects and aquaculture investment, typically crab or shrimp farms. I have seen this happen time and time again. There is very little that the local community can do other than to stand by and watch as their mangroves get hacked away.
This is especially painful for fishing communities as those mangrove forests represent vital nesting grounds for a wide variety of fishes that they depend on for their livelihood. Once the mangroves disappear so too does their source of income.
And it’s not only developers or cunning officials that are slashing away at mangrove forests for personal gains.
People plant mangroves during an event organised by Companies for Good on Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi. All photos: Vidhyaa Chandramohan
To fight climate change, the UAE is carrying out projects such as reducing emissions and planting mangroves.
Mangroves, trees that survive in salty water, play an important part in the ecosystem.
By 2030, the UAE intends to plant 100 million mangroves.
Visitors at Jubail Mangrove Park. Schools and businesses are planting saplings as part of the UAE's campaign.
Volunteers during a mangrove clean-up organised by the World Wildlife Fund and Seahawk Abu Dhabi.
Young mangroves can be damaged by plastic and other waste dumped into the sea.
Volunteers sort rubbish gathered during a clean-up of mangroves in Abu Dhabi.
After collecting debris from the mangroves, volunteers use an app to track their progress.
The grey mangrove is the species that grows extensively in UAE.
Visitors enjoy an evening paddle by the mangroves and a sunset view of Abu Dhabi.
As populations increase around the globe, there are more mouths to feed and therefore more source of income required. Most mangrove forests are located in tropical and sub-tropical regions within countries that are in the developing stage, with many of their people living close to the poverty line. Many of those communities tend to live close to coastlines, and close to mangrove forests.
This makes for a lethal combination: a growing number of people, looking for sources of income, and an idle mangrove forest full of natural riches and no way of defending itself.
Mangrove trees are very dense and can burn for a long time. They are also averse to getting degraded due to exposure to salt. This makes them ideal for charcoal making and for construction equipment, namely wall frames for homes. As a result, they are commonly targeted by people looking to make some quick cash by cutting them and selling them to merchants for charcoal fabrication or construction material.
As populations grow, so does the pressure on our mangrove forests. Already, we have lost half of the planet’s mangrove forests. And each year we are losing 1 per cent of the world’s remaining mangroves. This suggests that in 50 years there will be no more mangroves.
Aside from being a vital nesting ground for fishing communities, these forests also shield coastlines from natural disasters such as tsunamis and cyclones. If you take away the mangroves, you take away their coastal defences as well, thus exposing already vulnerable communities to potentially lethal disaster.
Yet, despite the security and biodiversity benefits, mangroves remain under-appreciated. That’s because those benefits are not directly resulting in benefits that people can count and put in their pockets. On the other hand, converting the trees to charcoal results in direct and measurable returns. It’s a losing battle for our dear mangroves.
Luckily, the mangrove tree has a third superpower, one which could ultimately ensure its survival. Mangrove trees have the ability to sequester up to five times more carbon dioxide than terrestrial trees. And they can hold those harmful gases in their trunks and the soil surrounded their vast network of roots for a millennium. And therein lies the answer: carbon capture.
Today, there is a growing marketplace of corporates who are looking to offset the CO2 volumes, which they cannot eliminate, via nature-based solutions, notably long-term reforestation projects.
These mangrove reforestation projects not only help to restore forests for 20-30 years but also provide people from local communities with livelihood improvements and jobs.
In fact, mangrove reforestation projects today command a premium over conventional terrestrial projects because of the significant co-benefits that the mangroves offer, such as coastal protection, biodiversity improvement and climate adaptation.
Mangroves are often exploited, particularly in poorer regions. Vahid Fotuhi
As a result, there is a surge in demand for what is called “blue carbon”, carbon-offset projects based in wetland environments, such as mangrove projects. Suddenly, the mangrove trees are worth more in the ground than they would be as charcoal or wood beams for a new house. Suddenly the mangrove trees have value.
Granted there is some development work to be done before communities can structure mangrove restoration projects and start generating carbon credit revenues. But the mechanisms are now firmly in place. And while they are far from perfect, the gaps that need to be filled have already been identified.
They include the need to put in place long-term monitoring programmes to ensure that each tree can be tracked and measured to ensure the permanence of these schemes. Another issue has been the channelling of funds from the carbon project developers to the local communities that are effectively the ”parents” of the mangrove forests. Again, technology is enabling the tracing of the funds to show exactly where they end up and how they are used so that flow can be audited and optimised.
The carbon markets are providing our remaining mangrove forests with a voice. They are allowing the mangrove trees to defend themselves, to stand up for themselves.
Local communities such as the one in Adiake can now leverage the carbon markets to channel capital from the polluters to the protectors. This provides hope for our coastal mangrove forests and the diverse communities that live side by side these unique forests.
Vahid Fotuhi is founder and chief executive of Blue Forest, a global developer of mangrove conservation and reforestation projects
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
SERIE A FIXTURES
Friday Sassuolo v Benevento (Kick-off 11.45pm)
Saturday Crotone v Spezia (6pm), Torino v Udinese (9pm), Lazio v Verona (11.45pm)
Sunday Cagliari v Inter Milan (3.30pm), Atalanta v Fiorentina (6pm), Napoli v Sampdoria (6pm), Bologna v Roma (6pm), Genoa v Juventus (9pm), AC Milan v Parma (11.45pm)
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
