Dubai-born CAFU launches drone assisted planting of 1M Ghaf trees to become carbon neutral

BT News Desk
April 11, 2021 3:44 pm

Dubai-born CAFU has taken strides in its strategy towards becoming carbon neutral, starting with the ground-breaking Ghaf Tree Seed Project to plant a million Ghaf seeds in the UAE desert to combat climate change.

The pioneering technology and car services company made two major announcements held at drone training institution Sanad Academy- It has completed two rounds of planting with over 10,000 seeds in the desert this year using its cutting-edge drone technology and first-of-its-kind planting mechanism designed by the CAFU engineers in the region.

Last year, the team at CAFU went through a rigorous R&D process to test optimal germination of the Ghaf seed in the harsh desert landscape, which shed light on certain requirements such as the need for a seedball mixture with the right ratio of nutrients to help the seeds germinate, and that these seedballs needed to be planted to a depth of 1 centimetre below the ground.

CAFU’s team of engineers and technology experts have designed and developed a pioneering in-house pressurised air mechanism built into the drone, which shoots the seedballs to the required depth, while also geotagging the location to track its progress. So far, the team have undergone two rounds of planting in the Mleiha Desert and expect germination over the coming months.

“Our motivation, since the time we launched in 2018, has been to set convenience in motion to make life better for our customers and residents, not just through our services, but through our ethos and values. This is why we set out the ‘CAFU Sustainability Deal’ last year, to act as a responsible business by taking real steps forward in our sustainability agenda to reduce the impact on our environment and the world we live in”, said Rashid Al Ghurair, Founder and CEO, CAFU.

“The Ghaf Tree Project, which forms the central pillar of our sustainability deal, is very close to my heart and I am happy to see the impact we are making on the UAE through this project”, he added.

Leading the press conference today, CAFU’s Sustainability and Community Manager Nabra Al Busaidi said, ‘It is a real privilege to lead this work by CAFU that will have such a positive impact on the environment. I can proudly say that the progress we have made and the support we have received from both government and private entities has been invaluable’.

‘Today, we have accomplished a major milestone through the drone-tech powered planting, and we are excited to use our rich findings and technology to move to the next stage where we scale this project to explore other native UAE seed types. And the best part is, this is only the beginning’, she added.

With sustainability and climate action high on the UAE agenda, CAFU has partnered with key strategic organizations in the UAE, all with the shared agenda of advancing solutions for positive impact on the environment and by doing so, advancing their research knowledge in the UAE.

 

CAFU and UAE University announced at today’s press conference that they will soon be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to partner on research to help optimize and create a self- sustaining seedball for outdoor survival which could lead to long-lasting effects for how we successfully grow trees and plants across the desert.  CAFU and UAEU also agreed to explore working together on a new strategy to scale these findings to explore working with other UAE native desert plants using same seedball methodology. Both organisations signalled their intent to instigate the research project that would conclude with an in-depth research report published containing their findings.

Other important partnerships include:

  • Sanad Academy, the UAE’s first Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) training and certification facility, have supported CAFU by providing an area and drone pilot for drone testing throughout the testing phase.
  • The Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) have supported CAFU since November 2019 by providing land in the Mleiha Desert – Green Belt conservation area, for drone planting.
  • The Department of Civil Aviation Sharjah are the key sponsors for all of CAFU’s drone flights for the year.
  • The UAE Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure have provided CAFU with land and other resources in AlDhaid, Sharjah, to carry out manual seedball planting during its R&D phase.

 

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