A three-day international conference on Soil Classification and Reclamation of Degraded Lands in Arid Environments (ICSC-2010) bringing together more than 130 scholars, researchers and experts began in Abu Dhabi on Monday. The conference, held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), aims to share information on land use and planning and discuss various issues in the field of soil classification and reclamation of degraded lands in arid environments. The three-day conference, which is organized by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) and the International Center for Bio saline Agriculture (ICBA) was inaugurated by Majid Al Mansouri, EAD's Secretary General. In his opening speech, Al Mansouri welcomed scientists, researchers and experts from 35 countries who have gathered to discuss various issues related to soil, land use and planning of agricultural expansion and sustainable use of natural resources. "Our economy is rapidly growing and we have a hard desert environment, therefore we needed to identify the characteristics of soils in the various regions of the Emirate, for the development of land management and optimum economical use of those soils," he said. The conference will feature six keynote speakers from Australia and India, Austria, Spain, Thailand and the United States, in addition to 130 speakers representing 35 countries from all over the world, according to a report of the UAE news agency "WAM". A workshop on how to use soil survey data in planning and policy making will be held on the sidelines of the conference.
