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International Journal of Environment and Sustainability, 2016, 5(2): 30-44 31
countries who noticed the need for an the outside world. It was discovered that the
immediate environmental enhancement to the Julfar area (currently known as Ras Al Khaimah)
communities we are living in. His Highness was the main export port for copper coming
Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President from the Hajar Mountains now located in Oman.
of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Abu It was also the starting point for the Islamic
Dhabi, realized how limited the natural sources invasion of the Sasanian Iran and the spread of
that the UAE and the world have, which is why Islam to the whole of Asia back in 637 AD. The
the UAE has already started taking serious recent history of the UAE during the 20th
actions and steps to protect those resources in a century shows that many countries invaded
very professional way that does not delay or these parts of the Arabian Peninsula, ending
stop its development plan. with the British invasion, which ended with the
declaration of the independent country of the
“We cherish our environment because it is an United Arab Emirates by the late His Highness
integral part of our country, our history, and our Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the ruler of
heritage. On land and in the sea, our forefathers Abu Dhabi, on the 2nd of December 1971. The
lived and survived in this environment. They new federal union consisted of Abu Dhabi as the
were able to do so only because they recognized capital of the new country, Dubai as the trade
the need to conserve it, to take from it only and commercial center, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al
what they needed to live, and to preserve it for Quwain, and Al Fujairah where Ras Al Khaimah
succeeding generations. With God's will, we (RAK) joined the following year. On February
shall continue to work to protect our environ- 1972, a federal council was created containing
ment and our wildlife, as did our forefathers only seven emirates after Qatar and Bahrain
before us. It is a duty, and, if we fail, our refused to join the union.
children, rightly, will reproach us for squan-
dering an essential part of their inheritance, and
of our heritage” said the late His Highness
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan founder of
the UAE.
Figure 1: View of Ras Al Khaimah coast Figure 2: UAE’s location and territory map
(RAKTDA, 2013) (Abu Dhabi Government, 2013)
a. Glimpse of the Past b. Shaping UAE’s Future
A quick overview of the UAE’s past shows its
role and importance through the years. At As a natural result of the existing federal system
earlier stages, around 130,000 years ago, there that is applied in the UAE, each emirate has its
were strong interactions between this land and own rules, regulations, and development plans.
Yet, the federal council approved certain ap-
proaches that were experienced in certain
emirates and generalized them on a federal
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