UAQ lagoon

Khor Al Yeefrah

About the site

The site is located in Umm Al Quwain (UAQ) Mangrove Beach (within Khor Al Yeefrah), which belongs to the Emirate of UAQ. The UAQ lagoon is home to dense mangrove forests, biodiversity, as well as kayaking activities near beautiful lagoon-side beaches. The area is the breeding ground for the largest colony of the Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) bird in the Gulf region. As such, this lagoon is renowned to be rich for its oldest and most genetically diverse ecosystems and biodiversity.

ABOUT THE PROJECT IN UAQ LAGOON

In Khor Al Yeefrah, 14,000 saplings were planted in 2023 and 24,000 saplings in 2024, totaling 38,000 planted saplings, which is equivalent to 6.5 ha.
The aim of the project in the UAQ lagoon is to plant mangroves to assist with the natural regeneration of mangroves and the wider ecosystem occurring at the site through a holistic approach. In addition to planting activities, biodiversity and vegetation data were collected through surveys. Given that the site provides great opportunities for outreach activities and citizen science, volunteers joined on some of the activities.

Field Activities

Community engagement & Restoration

From 3 to 18 February 2024, partners and more than 300 dedicated volunteers joined the outreach activities in Mangrove Beach and supported to plant additional 24,000 mangrove saplings.  

Baseline Surveys

The objective of this biodiversity survey was to collect data prior to our planting activities to be able to compare and understand the impact of additional mangroves on the environment.

Monitoring

The restoration sites were visited every other month after planting to observe any major disturbances or adjustments needed. We also collected information with some volunteers on the status of the restored mangroves by tracking their health status which is reported using the projects monitoring dashboard to track the progress of the project.