RAK to plant a million trees to become greener

RAS AL KHAIMAH // An ambitious campaign to make the emirate a greener place to live by planting more than one million trees is under way.

Launched by the Environment Protection and Development Agency in RAK, the initiative aims to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the environment.

“The distributed trees are local Ghaf and Sidr trees, amongst other types, we want to make the emirate greener,” said Dr Saif Mohammed Al Ghais, executive director of the EPDA.

More than 15,000 seedlings have so far been planted. They were numbered to enable the agency to keep track of their location and monitor growth.

The agency has also ruled that quarries in the emirate are required to install dust level sensors and submit a monthly report on the levels of dust they produce after complaints from residents living nearby.

New regulations have also been enforced on cement factories to limit the amount of pollution, said Mr Al Ghais. “Cement factories in RAK are obligated to store all the material that goes into cement production in warehouses and storage facilities and are not allowed to be left in the open air, as well as many other regulations that will limit the amount of pollution coming out of these factories.”

In December last year, a factory in Al Ghail, 40km south of RAK city, was closed after finding contaminated soil.

tzriqat@thenational.ae