Today's Edition
ISIDORA CIRIC (ABU DHABI)
Drones and robots are now full-time members of Abu Dhabi's conservation team, tasked with planting mangrove seeds and mapping their growth under Nature X Abu Dhabi — a series of tech-powered field projects designed to restore local natural ecosystems faster than ever.
Launched in October by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), the initiative moves conservation out of siloed pilots and into coordinated deployments by applying AI to everything from mangrove planting and rangeland recovery to aquaculture optimisation and seafloor mapping.
EAD's coastal and wildlife programmes served as the nuts and bolts for the new initiative, providing raw images and sensor streams gathered through decades of habitat monitoring. However, the pace of manual processing limited how quickly teams could act.
H.E. Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, EAD Secretary-General, said the Nature X programme resolves this bottleneck by folding model-driven analytics into existing methods to tighten the loop from data capture to decisions.
"Nature X Abu Dhabi fits seamlessly into EAD's long-standing programmes on seabirds, turtles and coastal ecosystems," she told Aletihad.
"By integrating AI-driven systems into our monitoring work, we are improving the precision, consistency and timeliness of data that was once gathered through extensive manual fieldwork." AI is already proving its worth, Dr Al Dhaheri added, halving the time needed to collect and review data gathered from fisheries and camera traps, while accuracy keeps improving.
She described Nature X as "the next evolution in this journey", expected to enhance EAD's terrestrial conservation portfolio by bundling those tools into one programme that can be deployed wherever the environment needs extra help.
Inside the Nature X Toolkit
The first Nature X field deployments are already underway in Abu Dhabi's mangroves, where AI-powered drones are helping EAD turn previously inaccessible areas into thriving restoration sites with remarkable speed and precision.
The technology has already helped expand the emirate's mangrove cover by 92% since the 1980s, now spanning 176 sq km — the largest in the UAE — with another 3,600 hectares under active rehabilitation.
"These custom-engineered drones are far more than simple seed dispersers," Dr Al Dhaheri said.
"They are designed with high precision to identify optimal planting zones, drop seeds accurately, and monitor seedling growth through integrated mapping tools and 3D imaging."
Another innovation under Nature X is an AI-powered autonomous robot vehicle, developed with Micropolis Robotics, that can prepare and till soil, launch drones, and carry out irrigation operations to increase the chances of germination.
The Plant Genetic Resources Centre, meanwhile, uses AI-powered spectral imaging to identify defects in rare native seeds without damaging them. The resulting datasets not only improve long-term storage strategies, Dr Al Dhaheri explained, but also "protect the genetic foundation of Abu Dhabi's terrestrial ecosystems and safeguard the emirate's native flora for future generations".
Beyond land, the Technology Innovation Institute is developing an autonomous underwater vehicle to map coral reefs and oyster beds over 130 km of seafloor. The gathered data will supercharge EAD's marine protection efforts by detecting early stress and revealing how marine habitats respond to climate and coastal pressures.
Nature X also leans into the blue economy through the Delma Fish farming project, which uses AI to monitor water quality, fish health and behaviour to fine-tune conditions in offshore cage farms. Complementing this effort, Dr Al Dhaheri added, is a region-first drone system that improves growth rates and reduces waste through automated fish feeding runs.
All information streams run through a shared Environmental Data Platform, which helps EAD coordinate restoration activities and has already cut research time tenfold while lowering costs and emissions.
Together, the Nature X ecosystem illustrates EAD's move toward what the Secretary-General described as "a smarter, faster and more responsive model of conservation where every data point helps protect biodiversity".
Building the Technology Backbone
Nabat, a start-up launched through ATRC's VentureOne accelerator, is one of the key technology partners supporting EAD's mangrove restoration programme under Nature X.
"Our mission is science-led and technology-enabled," Mehdi Ajana, Nabat's Head of Strategy, told Aletihad.
"We believe that ecologists are already doing an amazing job and a very complex effort to restore ecosystems, but that effort won't scale if we don't use technology."
Nabat's partnership with EAD is already delivering at scale, with a mandate to restore thousands of hectares of mangroves by 2030. Ajana described the workflow as a fully connected loop, from sensing to planting to verification, but stressed that Nabat's tools are not designed to override nature.
"Our drone can plant up to 10,000 trees per hour and about 10,000 per hectare. It's able to do it efficiently without wasting seeds, and most importantly, in a non-invasive way," he explained.
The next step is to adapt the planting mechanism for different mangrove species and locations, and extend it to other environments, including seagrass meadows, arid forests and coral reefs.
But even with the technology in place, Ajana said that scaling the project — whether within the UAE or internationally — is not a simple copy-paste exercise.
"I think we need to be super humble and open-minded when we work with nature," he said.
"The moment we move from a mangrove habitat in Abu Dhabi to another habitat, we see that each ecosystem has very unique characteristics. It's very complex, very specific."
For Ajana and the Nabat team, the ultimate success lies in building a platform that continuously shares know-how and brings together the expertise of policymakers, academics, technologists and ecologists.
"Nature X's main goal is to move the discussion from a theory to a concept — each of us has a piece of the solution," he said.
"I think this platform has been initiated for opening dialogue, learning from others, and coming up with a solution that is pioneered from Abu Dhabi for Abu Dhabi, and that can also be taken beyond Abu Dhabi."
Nature X Lands in Classrooms
While the drones and robots draw attention, Nature X is as much about people. Dr Al Dhaheri explained that the programme was designed as "a platform for community engagement, inviting everyone to play a role in protecting Abu Dhabi's natural heritage."
In the coming months, EAD will open volunteer opportunities for schools, dive clubs and community groups to join restoration efforts and learn directly from scientists and technologists.
Programmes will also focus on encouraging curiosity and responsibility among young people, with activities that range from citizen science monitoring to participating in mangrove planting drives and underwater surveys.
The agency believes that the success of Nature X depends on making restoration an inclusive effort, where the tools of AI and robotics are combined with the energy and enthusiasm of the wider community.
"Ultimately, Nature X Abu Dhabi aims to inspire a new generation of environmental innovators. It is through this collective effort, where technology meets community, that Abu Dhabi continues to build a smarter, greener and more resilient future for its environment."
