Multinational payment card services corporation Visa has expanded its partnership with environment charity Emirates Nature-WWF this week to launch the Shu’a project.
According to Emirates Nature-WWF, Shu’a, or Arabian Moringa, is a fast-growing tree with low water needs that thrives in the UAE’s mountains and serves to enhance soil quality, prevent erosion, and support pollinators, boosting biodiversity and carbon absorption.
Shu’a has nutrient-rich leaves and tubers, and its seeds yield oil, which is suitable for both cosmetics and cooking.
The partnership reportedly builds on earlier efforts to plant Shu’a trees in collaboration with Visa employees and local communities, and aims to incentivise the cultivation of Shu’a trees at commercial scale.
“According to our Sustainable Commerce Study 2023, 63% of consumers in the GCC view sustainability as a leading societal challenge. In response, our partnership with Emirates Nature-WWF on the Shu’a project highlights Visa’s commitment to supporting sustainable farming practices and diversifying livelihoods, which benefits people, the planet, and the economy,” said Carl Manlan, Vice President of Inclusive Impact and Sustainability, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA), Visa.
The partnership comes against a backdrop of unprecedented biodiversity decline as a result of human activity, with land degradation and habitat loss major drivers of this crisis.
Indeed, the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2024 reports a 73 per cent decline in wildlife populations in just over 50 years.
The environmental charity outlined that regionally, the Hajar Mountains in the eastern UAE have been particularly impacted by overgrazing, quarrying, and construction, leading to local extinctions and habitat fragmentation.
“The cultivation of native Shu’a trees can be regarded a model Nature-based Solution that utilizes nature to address biodiversity loss, climate change and societal challenges. Our partnership with Visa has enabled us to lift this concept off the ground and enter the feasibility stage, moving us much closer towards the market transformation of our food systems,” commented Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, Director General, Emirates Nature-WWF.