The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has received ISO 16133:2018 accreditation for its soil quality monitoring programme. According to the organisation, obtaining the accreditation this year makes it the first environmental authority in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to do so for five consecutive years.
EAD launched its programme back in 2018, through which it monitors the soil across over 600 sites.
Across these sites, it analyses over 1,376 samples to screen more than 35 elements and pollutants, with the aim of identifying the impact of human activities on soil quality and guide future soil management and regulatory policies.
This year, EAD increased its number of sites to 664, up from 100 in 2018.
The programme employs advanced Geographic Information Systems (GIS) statistical analyses to select and distribute sampling sites for optimal representation, the organisation shared.
“Our soil monitoring programme provides critical data to inform soil management strategies and policies, leading to better soil health, improved human health, and enhanced environmental sustainability in Abu Dhabi,” said Faisal Al Hammadi, Executive Director of the Environmental Quality Sector at EAD.
Al Hammadi explained that the team also utilised artificial intelligence techniques, which contributed to identifying soil pollution sources, assessing the extent of contamination, and implementing corrective actions, leading to improved soil quality and more sustainable land management.
Indeed, globally, 40 per cent of the earth’s land is already degraded, and between 2015 and 2019, at least 100 million hectares of healthy and productive land were degraded each year.
More regionally, studies on the MENA over the last twenty years have previously put land degradation at between 40 and 70 per cent, with more than half of all land and a quarter of arable land in MENA degraded.
“As a result of EAD’s ground-breaking soil monitoring programme, we are the first environmental authority in the Middle East and North Africa region to achieve the ISO 16133:2018 accreditation for five years in a row, demonstrating the programme’s adherence to international standards and our leadership in soil quality monitoring,” added Al Hammadi.