Soil Survey Training

From 1-5 February 2009, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi in collaboration with the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and GRM International have organized a workshop Soil Survey and Sustainable Use of Land Resources in Abu Dhabi Emirate to be held at the ICBA Headquarters in Dubai.

The workshop is an important way to share knowledge about soil classification systems, the survey methods used, and some of the findings of the Soil Survey of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The first phase of the Soil Survey – to conduct an extensive soil survey of the entire Abu Dhabi Emirate at scale 1:100,000 was completed in 2008. Phase II – an intensive soil survey of 400,000 ha at scale 1:25,000 having the highest potential for irrigated agriculture) is underway currently. It is due to be completed later this year.

The soil survey reports contain considerable basic information on soils found within the Emirate. In the context of general land use planning, soil properties data provides an invaluable tool for resource planning. This information is critical in making decision about the management of soils for agriculture purposes, in planning land uses for urban and suburban areas, and in determining the needs for other uses such as forestry, range management, wildlife, and recreation.