Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) inaugurated a mangrove nursery last week to mark the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem.
The mangrove nursery, which is located at the nearby HRH Princess Sabeeka Oasis, was established in February this year. The 8,600 square foot contains 12,000 mangrove shrubs and will ultimately expand to 20,000 mangrove plants.
Alba will cooperate with the Supreme Council for Environment for the new mangrove nursery to be a primary source for the kingdom’s mangrove natural reserves.
Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali said in a press release that the project is part of its wider goals related to negating climate change.
“The Mangrove Nursery is one of Alba’s key initiatives to address climate change in line with Bahrain’s objectives to quadruple the number of mangroves by 2035 under the directives of HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.”
“By nursing mangroves, we want to raise awareness about this important ecosystem in environment conservation,” he continued.
The mangrove nursery is not the first time Alba has participated in mangrove cultivation projects. In July of last year Alba supported the National Initiative for Agricultural Development to develop the Ras Sanad Mangrove Nursery Project.
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is the world’s biggest aluminium smelter outside the People’s Republic of China. Originally incorporated in 1968, the company is based in Bahrain and 84% of its total workforce are Bahraini nationals. It began operations in 1971 with a 120,000 metric ton annual capacity. Modernization bumped the output up to 450,000 metric tons in 1992. In the spring of 2005, Alba opened Line 5, raising output by 860,000 metric tons per year. In 2022 Alba’s smelter produced 1,600,111 metric tons of primary aluminium.
