Living Land

[

] 114

tree planting initiatives is 2,093,177, which contributes to

accumulative CO

mitigation of 17,789 metric tons.

For the corporations involved, these activities are an

opportunity to move towards sustainability and set an

example to the mass of organizations in this country. Bonds

are made between generations of participants as they come

together towards this goal. This activity not only promotes

volunteerism, but it also promotes civic responsibility.

EEG’s efforts have been aimed at helping the regional

environment as a whole. The Arab region is one of the

harshest terrains in the world and the injection of durable

indigenous trees in the environment goes a long way in

maintaining and sustaining an ecological balance. As a

result of such initiatives, the quality of air improves and

the planted trees contribute to creating healthier outdoor

spaces and restoring urban habitats for wildlife, thus

advancing global reforestation and intercultural awareness.

Believing that public-private partnerships shape the future

of the country towards a more sustainable path, in 2014 EEG

signed a contract with McDonald’s UAE to host several tree

planting events across UAE in various government schools.

The initiative was named Planting a Greener Future and was

planned to be hosted between April 2014 and April 2015.

The initiative was created to develop three major areas —

social growth, economic growth and environmental growth.

It educates the youth on these three fronts and inspires them

to work towards a means to achieve sustainable development.

Under this initiative seven government schools were

selected across the Emirates and 50 indigenous trees were

planted in each school. A total of 350 trees were plants by

the end of this initiative in April 2015. The initiative created

awareness among students and schools staff, contributed to

mitigating UAE’s carbon footprint and furthermore helped

combat desertification in UAE.

The advantages and benefits of recycling are simply

too many to ignore which is why EEG dedicates so much

of its time and workforce in advocating the practice and

asking the UAE community to join in this needful act. This

programme keeps striding forward, expanding its outreach

with every year and urging all members of society to join

hands in making recycling a part of their cultural fabric,

not something viewed as a luxury.

It is a well understood fact that the global community

should take all the measures they can to prevent desertifica-

tion and land degradation. Arid ecosystems within UAE are

suffering serious desertification processes.

In order to combat

these, more waste management and tree planting activities

through community engagement need to be carried out.

Participants at the Clean Up UAE event

Image: EEG

iving

and