Volunteers plant trees in Egypt

ABU DHABI // Members of a volunteer organisation based in the capital helped to plant mangrove trees in Egypt yesterday as part of a UN environmental programme. Volunteers from Takatof, an organisation established by the Emirates Foundation in 2007, and colleagues from the Arab Islamic Environmental Camp worked in Al Ghardaqah and Safaga, Egypt's coastal stretches overlooking the Red Sea, according to WAM, the state news agency.

The work is part of an attempt to revive growths of the saltwater plant in these areas. The volunteers planted thousands of mangrove saplings. The camp is organised by the Arab League and Arab Union for Youth and Environment in co-operation with the Islamic Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation and the Arab Union for Voluntary Work. The UN environmental programme has set a new goal of planting seven billion trees by the end of this year. The campaign strongly encourages the planting of trees that are indigenous or otherwise appropriate to the local environment.

sbhattacharya@thenational.ae