Lead Partner Organisation: Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI)
Blue Forest ecosystem focus: Mangrove, seagrass, salt marsh, sabkha, and intertidal algal flats
Total area covered: 176,400 ha (for both improved understanding and improved ecosystem management)

The focus of the GEF Blue Forests Project small-scale intervention ‘Abu Dhabi Blue Carbon Demonstration Project’ is to investigate opportunities in building a local greener Emirate through the better understanding of carbon and coastal ecosystem services and its potential contribution to climate change mitigation efforts. The project aims to improve local understanding of carbon storage and sequestration and the other ecosystem services that coastal blue carbon ecosystems provide in Abu Dhabi.

The project will identify options for incorporating these values into policy and management, leading to the sustainable use of these ecosystems and preserving their services for future generations. This sub-project will help meet national priorities in coastal management, especially pertaining to the protection of mangrove, seagrass, saltmarsh (all three blue forest ecosystems) and sabkha ecosystems (including algal flats), and priorities in national climate change policy. These ecosystems are particularly important in Abu Dhabi as they represent a significant part of the Emirates natural ecosystem resource. It will also serve as an example in natural carbon mitigation for a region heavily dependent on extraction of fossil fuels.