From the recovery of depleted fish stocks to the protection of some of the UAE’s most threatened species, Abu Dhabi’s conservation efforts have transformed significantly over the past three decades.
Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) marks its 30th anniversary this year, but for Secretary General Dr Shaikha Al Dhaheri, the emirate’s environmental story stretches back much further than the organisation she leads, to a time when survival in one of the world’s most unforgiving landscapes depended on understanding the limits of the natural world.
“Our ancestors lived in the most arid region, under the harshest environment, and with very limited resources when it came to food and water,” Dr Al Dhaheri told The National. “Respect for the environment and respect for the resources have been part of the DNA of our people, of our grandparents.”
As EAD marks its 30th anniversary, it is looking back at how those traditions evolved into modern conservation, and ahead to the challenges that will shape the next three decades.
One of the first institutional steps towards the environmental authority that exists today was the establishment of the National Avian Research Centre in 1989.
Early work
Its early work focused on the houbara bustard, a migratory bird closely linked to the UAE’s falconry heritage.
“The establishment of the centre came from two aspects,” Dr Al Dhaheri said. “One was conservation, but it was also about protecting cultural heritage and making this important practice more aligned with the modernised aspects of our life.”
The work began with a relatively small group of scientists studying migration routes and conservation needs.
“From there, the story and the establishment of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi came,” she said. Three decades later, one of the agency’s biggest success stories is beneath the sea. Abu Dhabi’s Sustainable Fisheries Index stood at just 8 per cent in 2018 after years of pressure on commercially important fish stocks.
“The world's fish stocks were fished beyond sustainable limits, our fisheries too,” Dr Al Dhaheri said. “That was the first red flag that the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi took very seriously.”
The warning followed years of data collection at landing ports across the emirate. Scientists recorded what species fishermen brought ashore, how much they caught, which gear they used, where they fished and how much time they spent at sea.
Restrictions introduced in 2018 included bans on certain types of net fishing followed by restrictions on gargoor traps, a traditional, dome-shaped, hemispherical fish trap widely used in the Arabian Gulf and neighbouring regions.
But Dr Al Dhaheri said the approach was not simply about prohibition. “It was not about banning only,” she said. “It was also about how we can compensate these fishermen who are impacted and bring them with us on this journey, so they can see that recovering stock will ultimately benefit them and their children.”
Commercial fishermen were still able to use line fishing and Hadhra, a traditional intertidal fish trap. Dr Al Dhaheri said an unexpected result was that catches could remain comparable while the size, weight and quality of the fish improved. The restrictions also benefited turtles, dugongs and other marine species by reducing the risk of entanglement.
At the time the fisheries restrictions were introduced, recovery was expected to take about a decade. But by 2023, the Sustainable Fisheries Index had reached about 60 per cent. It rose above 80 per cent in 2024 and reached 100 per cent by the end of 2025.
“This is very unique,” Dr Al Dhaheri said. “Very unique globally.”
Alongside fisheries, Abu Dhabi’s wider marine environment has also become a major focus of restoration.
Dr Al Dhaheri said turtle numbers have risen by about 30 per cent, while the emirate’s waters are home to about 3,500 dugongs. Greater flamingos have also bred successfully at Al Wathba Wetland Reserve for years. The emirate has planted and restored nearly 75 million mangroves, she said, while a major coral restoration programme has cultivated about 1.8 million coral fragments.
This extensive restoration work takes place in one of the harshest marine environments in the world. The Arabian Gulf is shallow and semi-enclosed, with exceptionally high temperatures and salinity. Dr Al Dhaheri said those conditions present a challenge but also an opportunity.
“Given that I am a scientist, I have to be realistic as well,” she said. “We can live climate change ahead of its time.”
Beyond climate impacts, human pressures on coastal and land environments remain significant. Much of Abu Dhabi’s development, energy infrastructure and desalination capacity lie along the coast, making environmental regulation critical. Dr Al Dhaheri said developments are subject to strict environmental permits and conditions designed to reduce their impact on the sea.
Air quality is another major continuing challenge that concerns her. Abu Dhabi established its air quality monitoring network in 2007, allowing scientists to study pollutants and identify their origin.
The emirate faces a particular difficulty because not all air pollutants are produced locally, and she strongly rejects the idea that Abu Dhabi should be characterised as one of the world’s most polluted cities.
“I do not agree at all,” she said. “The data and the scientific analysis are very clear, and they identify the sources. Every emission that leaves that factory or industry is reported live into EAD’s system,” Dr Al Dhaheri said. “That allows us to see if there is an exceedance, then there is an enforcement that will take place.”
The more difficult question is what to do about pollution that originates elsewhere. “These cannot be addressed only at a local level alone, they require regional collaboration,” she said.
The importance of groundwater
Groundwater is another finite resource that concerns her. The agency has recorded around 118,000 wells across Abu Dhabi and installed hundreds of monitoring wells to track extraction and water quality.
“What we have is what we have,” Dr Al Dhaheri said. “What we withdraw means the groundwater is going down.”
Dr Al Dhaheri said studies have shown that some irrigation practices use substantially more water than necessary, and the agency has worked with other bodies to develop tools allowing farmers to calculate more accurately how much water particular crops require.
“The protection of the groundwater today is a must,” she said. “We need to accelerate the action to supply other water resources.”
Dr Al Dhaheri also singled out waste as a major environmental challenge. She said Abu Dhabi aims to move away from landfill and work towards a circular economy. “Waste should not be considered waste,” she said. “Waste is a resource that has a value, that has money to it, that can be injected again back into the system.”
This shift to circularity is expected to form part of the next phase. For much of the past three decades, environmental work has relied on collecting information, analysing samples and responding to what scientists observed.
Environment Agency Abu Dhabi now has decades of information on air quality, groundwater, marine conditions, biodiversity and pollution, and that data can increasingly be used to anticipate problems rather than wait for them to occur.
“We don’t have the privilege of time and resources,” she said. “We will move from an action-based approach into a predictive model using AI and technology.”
The agency has already begun developing AI applications to support predictive work in areas including air quality, marine water quality, groundwater and pollution. In tandem with technological innovation, changing public behaviour remains a core goal.
Dr Al Dhaheri pointed to Abu Dhabi’s single-use plastic policy as an example of how quickly habits can shift when regulation is combined with public awareness.
Since the policy's introduction, the agency has recorded a 95 per cent reduction in single-use plastic bag consumption, with the use of more than 500 million bags avoided.
It has also expanded environmental education through its Sustainable Schools Initiative, which engages more than 560 schools across Abu Dhabi and has reached over 500,000 students since its launch in 2009.
Underpinning all of these long-term environmental goals is a commitment to emergency resilience. Abu Dhabi’s Liwa Strategic Water Reserve provides one emergency safeguard, storing desalinated water underground for use if conventional supplies are disrupted. To reinforce these safeguards, Abu Dhabi has established comprehensive emergency protocols ensuring rapid, co-ordinated protection of its environmental and water resources.
Dr Al Dhaheri said the emirate has long maintained detailed risk and preparedness plans, which have been reviewed again in light of recent regional tensions, while the agency has also increased monitoring to establish whether debris entering the Arabian Gulf has affected water quality.
“We are still at the stage of collecting the data to ensure that there is absolutely no impact,” she said.
Looking at the broader societal picture, Dr Al Dhaheri emphasised that protecting the environment can no longer be considered to stand in opposition to economic growth.
“If you asked me this question maybe 15 years ago, I would say it’s not likely the economy and environment can go hand in hand,” she said. “But today, I think they can, because they complement each other. A healthy environment is the foundation of a thriving economy.”
She said that change can be seen in the way developers increasingly approach environmental authorities early in the planning process.
“They are protecting their investment,” she said. “There is no point in sealing a deal and coming late to apply for an environmental permit to find out that your project is not feasible environmentally.” She regards that shift in mindset as one of the quieter achievements of the past three decades.
“Our journey is defined by a continuous stream of achievements,” she said. “When I really look at each pillar that the Environment Agency has worked in over the last 30 years, I would pick a few.”
“What I’m most proud of is that we carried Sheikh Zayed’s legacy forward, and in doing so, earned EAD its standing as an internationally credible environmental regulator. We try to learn from everybody. But the best elsewhere is not necessarily the best for us. We want to create our own model.
“The next 30 years will be nothing short of extraordinary. They will be more productive, more promising and more transformative than the last three decades,” she said. “They have to be.”
