Building a buzz: How UAE property developers are integrating bees into urban communities

Landscaping company adopts 180,000 bees

Yalla Beena! a new initiative to preserving the Pollinators of the UAE, brings together Amwaj Development, Green Gardenia Landscaping and the One Hive Group.

In the mountainous enclave of Hatta, a new partnership between honeybee research centre Hatta Honey and a property firm aims to get landscapes buzzing.

The initiative, called Yalla Beena! Preserving the Pollinators of the UAE, brings together Amwaj Development, Green Gardenia Landscaping and the One Hive Group. They have launched a project to cultivate pollinator-friendly plants.

“This isn’t about branding,” says Meriem Hammal, a beekeeper and business development manager at One Hive. “It’s about rebuilding ecosystems that urbanisation has pushed to the brink. Pollinators aren’t optional. They’re essential to life.”

Globally, pollinator numbers have plummeted, with climate change, pesticide use and habitat loss driving colony collapses at unprecedented rates. In the UAE, which has recently seen record-breaking temperatures, the impact is particularly stark.

“Last April was one of the wettest on record. This year, it’s the hottest. Bees can’t adapt that quickly,” says Hammal. “They get disoriented. Colonies collapse. One day they’re thriving, the next, the hive is empty.”

Bees native to the UAE find a new home in Hatta

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Integrating bee-friendly flora

The Yalla Beena! project – its name a playful twist on the Arabic for “Let’s go!” and “bee” – began this year when three hives Apis mellifera bees were adopted. The hives, each home to about 60,000 bees, are located at the Hatta Honey Bee Discovery Centre, where they support local flora.

What sets this project apart is its integration into the development process. Green Gardenia is redesigning urban landscapes using melliferous plants – which are rich in nectar and pollen – tailored to native pollinators.

Hatta Honey Bee Discovery Centre. Bee Keeper and tour guide Mary Jane Villanueva tends to a hive sponsored by Green Gardenia Landscape and Pools at the center in Hatta. Antonie Robertson/The National

“Too often, developers choose landscaping for aesthetic value only,” says Hammal. “But not all flowers feed bees. We’re designing spaces that look beautiful and function ecologically.”

Aida Al Shehabi, chief operating officer at Amwaj Development, says the move reflects the firm's broader vision to create communities that are not only intelligently designed, but also environmentally friendly. “Through strategic collaborations like this one, we are proving that real estate development and ecological stewardship can – and must – go hand in hand.”

Bees thrive with the right resources

The richness of bee species globally is largely driven by warm weather and access to resources such as water and plants. Source: Current Biology

The project reflects a growing shift in the property sector’s approach to sustainability. Long criticised for greenwashing and monoculture planting, some developers are beginning to reframe biodiversity as not just a branding tool, but a business imperative.

“There’s definitely a trend,” says Hammal. “We’ve had interest from hotels, schools and now real estate. But we’re selective. We don’t want to be a tick box. This has to be real.”

One Hive’s work spans field research, queen bee breeding, swarm rescue and mentorship programmes. The group also runs school visits and public training.

As climate change is causing more extreme weather events globally, bees – and the crops they support – face mounting stress. “They’re foraging earlier or later than expected, flowers are blooming at the wrong times, and rain now damages more than it helps,” says Hammal. “If we don’t act, we’ll lose them. And if we lose them, we lose our food.”

The stakes, she says, are existential. “Bees pollinate 75 to 80 per cent of our fruit and vegetables. It’s not about honey. It’s about food security. It’s about survival.”

Conservationist Jane Goodall at Expo City Dubai for the launch of the pollinator garden named after her. Chris Whiteoak / The National

UAE developers balancing nature with design

Elsewhere in the UAE, developers are starting to respond to the issue.

The Sustainable City in Dubai was an early adopter of integrating pollinators into community plans. In 2018, 250 beehives were bought under the My Hive programme to provide residents with organic honey and raise awareness of bees' important ecological role.

This year, renowned conservationist Jane Goodall opened a bee sanctuary named after her in Expo City Dubai. It is a haven to more than 30,000 of the insects.

Arada’s Masaar community in Sharjah is planting 50,000 trees. Aldar’s The Wilds project promotes rewilding principles in suburban Dubai.

But for Hammal, the benchmark remains integrity. “The bees can tell if you’re faking it,” she laughs. “They either thrive or they leave.”

In Hatta, the hives hum with quiet urgency. Summer is coming and with it, a harsh test of survival. But for now, the bees are working – pollinating the mountain blooms, educating visiting schoolchildren and, perhaps, rewriting the blueprint for sustainable development in the desert.

As Hammal puts it: “We’re not here to save the bees. We’re here to let the bees save us.”