• Emirates Environmental Group continues the high-spirited journey to increase the Sustainable Green Spaces within the UAE.

Emirates Environmental Group continues its mission towards protecting the environment and has collaborated with the National Bank of Fujairah to organise a massive urban afforestation activity under “For Our Emirates We Plant” programme. This Tree Planting Activity took place at Dibba area in the Emirate of Fujairah on Saturday 6th March 2022 where 265 saplings of indigenous Sidr and Ghaf trees were planted at a honey protected area.

Mrs. Habiba Al Mar’ashi, EEG Co-Founder & Chairperson expressed her deep appreciation and gratitude to Fujairah Environment Authority for supporting Emirates Environmental Group and for facilitating the tree planting activity.

In her address to the attendees, she highlighted: “Research studies estimate that millions of hectares of forestlands are converted to other land use types every year. Trees make up the major components of the lost vegetation. Loss of vegetation has led to significant loss of ecosystem functions. According to a report at Intergovernmental Panel on Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), degradation of land and marine ecosystems undermines the well-being of 3.2 billion people and costs about 10% of annual global gross domestic product in loss of species and ecosystems services.”

Adding further, she remarked “Considering the severity of land and marine ecosystem degradation, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2021 – 2030 the UN Decade on ecosystem restoration, with the aim of massively scaling up restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems as a proven measure to fight the climate crisis and enhance food security, water supply and biodiversity. EEG continues on a high-spirited journey to inspire the community and secure meaningful and lasting support for planting native trees in the UAE.”

Commenting on the initiative, NBF’s CEO Vince Cook said “NBF  plays an integral part in the development of Fujairah  through such initiatives, that are aimed at enhancing the community. This initiative is an extension of NBF’s CSR objective to engage in impactful projects, such as environmental conservation and make meaningful contributions to the society. We remain committed to environmental sustainability and work towards reducing the overall carbon footprint; this effort not only shows our dedication towards our home emirate but also created a tangible and visually appealing change that motivates us further to continue our mission of giving back to the community in line with our CSR strategy.”

With the conclusion of the tree planting event with National Bank of Fujairah, EEG has planted 2,106,791 saplings of indigenous trees across the different Emirates of UAE since the inception of this activity in 2007. This has resulted in the sequestration of 12,423.11 MTCO2E annually upon maturity.

Other data:

Trees Planted in 2022 including today’s event: 1,545 Trees (9.11 MTCO2E)

Trees Planted for National Bank of Fujairah: 265 Trees (1.56 MTCO2E)

EEG as an accredited NGO of the United Nations Environment Programme, and the United Nations Convention for Combatting Desertification, has conducted this important event which will result in the direct deliverables of UN SDG Goal 3: Good health and wellbeing UN SDG Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption production; Goal 13: climate Action and Goal 15: Life on land.

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About Emirates Environmental Group:

Emirates Environmental Group (EEG(, is a professional working group established in 1991. It is devoted to protecting the environment through the means of education, action programmes and community involvement. EEG is actively encouraged and supported by concerned local and federal government agencies. It is the first environmental NGO in the world to be ISO 14001 certified and the only organisation of its kind in the UAE with accredited status to the United Nations Convention to Combating Desertification (UNCCD) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). EEG is a member of the UN Global Compact, the Global Urban Development (GUD), and the One Planet Network under programme of Sustainable Food System (SFS) and its Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) and Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML).

For more information, contact us: email: eeg@emirates.net.ae; Tel: 04-3448622; Fax: 04-3448677 and please visit our bi-lingual website: www.eeg-uae.org; Follow us on FB; Twitter & Instagram: @eegemirates