The Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD) and ENGIE, the global energy company, announced the success of the second phase of the "Blue Carbon" Environmental and Social Responsibility project, in partnership with Distant Imagery. Using highly innovative drone planting technology, more than 35,000 mangrove seeds were planted in the Mirfa lagoon in Abu Dhabi.

 

The Mangrove Rehabilitation project, initiated in 2020, was a successful pilot project where approximately a hectare of coastline was planted with mangrove seed balls via specialized engineered drone rigging. The mangrove seeds were then monitored monthly for growth over a year.

 

The second phase involved further refined drone rigging and planting germinated mangrove seeds and seed balls to scale up the mangroves. The use of drones was crucial during each step of the project. They assisted in evaluating the above-ground environmental conditions, spatial arrangements, and ability to geo-map the site. Drones provide an efficient and fast method for dropping seeds at speeds of about 2,000 seeds per load. For the planting, Distant Imagery developed three different seed-dropping mechanisms based on soil, elevation, and tidal characteristics, with the objective to enhance success rate.

 

EAD will continue to support the project by actively monitoring the health of the mangroves.

 

ENGIE aims to enable governments and businesses to accelerate the transition toward a carbon-neutral economy and supports long-term sustainable solutions.