Expo Nursery: A Model for Sustainability

Gulf News

On World Water Day, the Sustainability team of the Expo 2020 Dubai toured Gulf News at the Expo Nursery, home to thousands of water-efficient native and adaptive plants, shrubs and trees that will be transplanted across the Expo site. Daily headlines from the UAE and around the world brought to you by Gulf News. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/videos

Transcript

00:00We are standing here in the nursery, the Expo nursery.

00:04It's 22 hectares big and this is where the magic happens

00:09when it comes to our plants and our trees and everything that will go on site.

00:13So all of the plants and the trees that we have here

00:16are mainly focused on native and adaptive plants

00:19and we do that for a very good reason.

00:21It saves us on water and it saves us about 50%

00:26of the water needed for plants and trees.

00:30Native and adaptive plants are plants that are for the region,

00:34are in the region and are not brought from outside

00:37or can adapt in the climate and the area and the environment that we are in.

00:43For example, the gaff tree, as everybody knows,

00:46and it's the year of tolerance and is the symbol of the year of tolerance.

00:50Actually, the roots for the gaff tree go down 30 meters,

00:55down to the soil and the leaves are small for a reason

01:00so that it doesn't lose all the water that comes out.

01:03So the tree itself is a symbol of resilience here for the UAE.

01:09But also, when I talk about native plants,

01:12of course the palm trees that are behind us right now,

01:15they are native plants.

01:17They provide fruit for the country and for the region itself,

01:21but at the same time we have other plants that are adaptive.

01:25Adaptive means that they come from another region

01:28but they thrive well in the area that we live in.

01:31The water that's used here is treated water from the waste

01:36and this is basically the way we do it.

01:39We don't use potable water or drinking water to irrigate our plants

01:44and that's part of the savings that we do.

01:47I see sometimes that the Expo is a testbed for sustainable innovations

01:51for the rest of the region and for the rest of the country.

01:54And if we see it that way, then we can showcase to the world

01:58how sustainable we can be, but also how sustainable we are

02:02because I truly believe that there are so many things happening

02:05in the UAE when it comes to sustainability.

02:08My top three tips for even saving water, it's little things,

02:11is if you put a brick in your tank, in the flusher tank,

02:17that reduces the amount of water that's in your tank.

02:20When you flush, you're actually using less water to flush.

02:23Make sure that there are no leaks.

02:26Just bring a plumber in to check and maintain what you're doing.

02:29Simple things like that will actually save you water.

02:32In your garden, do what we're doing here.

02:35Plant native, plant adaptive.

02:38Make sure that you're watering on a regular schedule,

02:41but not watering too much.

02:43So little things like that can make huge differences

02:46to not just the environment, but also to your water bill.

02:50So the economic value of sustainability is quite high,

02:53and I think people are starting to see that.

02:55The more efficient you are, the more sustainable you are,

02:58and the more money and resources you save for the future.

03:09Pottery Barn

03:11Please visit www.potterybarn.com for more ideas and inspiration.

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