Sharjah has unveiled an ambitious plan to transform the mountainous enclave of Khor Fakkan into a striking nature spot surrounded by forests.
Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah, said trees would be planted in pits dug in valleys descending from the mountains around the city, with the pits capturing water to irrigate the trees.
Habiba Al Marashi, who chairs Emirates Environmental Group, praised Sheikh Dr Sultan’s “excellent announcement” and indicated that it could serve as an example to the public, who could nurture trees of their own.
“We need our leadership to be at the forefront,” she said. “When you get these kind of announcements from the top, the rest of the population will follow.
“I’m so glad there’s more and more awareness about how we can conserve our resources, how we can benefit from every single drop of water to plant our native trees. We see it not only in one emirate, but across the country.”
Deep-rooted strategy
Tree planting has long been a mission in the UAE, spearheaded by the Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
Thanks to his efforts, and subsequent afforestation projects, about 242,000 hectares of Abu Dhabi emirate, or 3.5 per cent of the land area, is covered by forests, according to a 2019 study.
Dr Wafa Al Yamani, a desertification control policy expert at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, said Abu Dhabi had catalogued and protected more than 340,000 native trees. The other emirates have also been adopting initiatives to increase tree cover.
In July it was announced that Dubai Municipality had planted more than 300,000 trees and seedlings in the first half of 2025.
Ras Al Khaimah’s Green Cover project has planted more than 80,000 trees, Dr Al Yamani said, while Fujairah maintains large areas of green belt and urban green areas.
Abu Dhabi, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain have planted mangroves, and the UAE as a whole is more than 30 per cent of the way towards achieving its target of planting 100 million mangroves by the end of the decade.
“These initiatives succeed because they combine ecological science, long-term maintenance and community engagement, rather than one-time planting campaigns,” Dr Al Yamani said.
Initiatives have often involved Emirates Environmental Group (EEG), which since 2007 has, in co-operation with each emirate, planted more than 2.1 million trees, Ms Al Marashi, said.
This month Ms Al Marashi has been involved in mangrove planting in Ras Al Khaimah and ghaf planting in Abu Dhabi.
Growing strong
Projects are more likely to work well when the trees planted are native species, which have significantly higher long-term survival rates, according to Dr Al Yamani.
“Indigenous trees such as ghaf (Prosopis cineraria), sidr (Ziziphus spina-chrisi) and samar (Acacia tortilis) evolved under extreme heat, high salinity, nutrient-poor soils and prolonged drought,” she said.
“Their deep root systems and efficient water use allow them to survive with minimal irrigation once established. And these trees are the majority in UAE desert forests.”
The ghaf, the UAE’s national tree, is famed for its extraordinary roots, which can reach more than 60 metres below ground in search of water.
Many non-native species are less well adapted to local conditions and require continuous watering, soil conditioning and pest management.
“In an arid country where freshwater resources are limited and desalinated water is energy-intensive, this difference is critical for sustainability,” Dr Al Yamani said.
She added that native trees also supported biodiversity, with the ghaf and sidr, for example, providing habitat and food for desert birds, insects and grazing wildlife.
Ms Al Marashi described native trees as creating a “fully formed, balanced ecosystem”.
“They’re attracting different types of migratory birds,” she said. “They’ve seen a suitable environment. They’re landing and nesting. It’s increasing the diversity of our species.”
In hyper-arid environments such as the UAE, tree planting is also important for combating desertification and land degradation by stabilising soils and reducing wind erosion, Dr Al Yamani said.
Reducing sand encroachment, it protects roads and urban infrastructure; makes soil more fertile and better able to retain water; lowers surface temperatures; and sequesters or fixes carbon. These support the UAE’s National Strategy to Combat Desertification 2022 – 2030.
Firm foundations
Dr Gary Brown, a biologist who has lived across the Gulf and who is co-writing a book called The Vegetation Ecology of Eastern Arabia, said that, perhaps against people’s expectations, sand was “actually a very good growth medium for plants”, as long as it is stable.
“What a sand dune is, it’s basically a huge reservoir for water,” he said. “When it rains, the water goes into the sand … the water goes deep down and it’s stored below the surface.”
When the right trees are planted, they can thrive in unlikely locations. Dr Brown has, for example, planted trees in a quarry in Kuwait that have survived for many years.
“It always depends on circumstances,” he said. “There isn’t a one-size-fits-all protocol. It probably needs someone to look at it in more detail and say, ‘Here we need so much irrigation.’
“Even in Sharjah towards the mountains, you probably only need watering in the summer once a month and in the winter probably not at all. It’s much cooler in Sharjah, much cooler than further south, towards the Empty Quarter.”
Not UAE's answer to Salalah
Even if large-scale tree planting takes place around Khor Fakkan, Dr Brown said that it would not transform the city into the UAE’s answer to Salalah, the coastal Omani city famed for its lush surroundings, because the two areas have contrasting climates.
In the summer Salalah benefits both from monsoon rains and moderate temperatures, while winters are warm by the standards of the region.
Tree planting is set to remain high on the agenda in the UAE because, in arid regions, climate change makes ecosystem restoration increasingly important.
“The UAE is experiencing rising temperatures, greater evapotranspiration [evaporation and transpiration, the release of water by plants], increased soil salinity in some areas, and more frequent dust events,” Dr Al Yamani said.
“Tree planting alone is not a solution, but when integrated with sustainable water management, land restoration and climate adaptation planning, as outlined in national strategies, it becomes a powerful nature-based solution.”
