‘Environmental Eyes’ equip volunteers with the awareness to identify, report potential violations caused by human activities
The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has launched ‘Environmental Eyes’, a youth led volunteering programme that aims to build an environmentally responsible society.
The new programme aims to enlist volunteer members and equip them with the awareness to identify potential violations caused by human activities and report such via EAD’s SAHIM mobile application.
This action will allow EAD to then take swift corrective actions in responding to such incidents.
The volunteers, aged 18 and above, will be trained through an electronic platform via a series of environmental educational videos.
Once the volunteers have completed their training, they will receive a certificate and gain access to the SAHIM app, which will enable them to start reporting any observed environmental violations.
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Her Excellency Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri, Secretary General of EAD, said in her opening speech: “With the launch of this initiative we encourage society to take positive action in recording harmful activities and violations of our precious environment here in Abu Dhabi.”
Her Excellency Dr Shaikha Salem Al Dhaheri went on to say how the programme will create “key players in the preservation of our natural habitats that we now know we cannot live without.”
The ‘Environmental Eyes’ programme comes under the umbrella of the SAHIM programme – which means ‘contribute’ in Arabic – and is a comprehensive UAE-wide citizen science initiative that allows the public to participate in scientific environmental research.
The programme aims to promote a culture of citizen-science in the UAE, which will help support environmental conservation research, decision-making, and the development of policies and initiatives.
Available for download from Apple Store and Google Play, SAHIM is a community-driven initiative, empowering individuals to take real-world action for a more sustainable environment.
The easy-to-use tool – which is accessible to people of all ages – will allow residents of Abu Dhabi to support EAD by encouraging them to report any single-use plastic and waste found on beaches and other terrestrial locations.
For more environmental news, visit Yalla Abu Dhabi
