Dr Mai Abdul Wahid Al Khaja, associate professor at the UAE University, has called on mass media and public relations agencies to factor in what she termed as environmental considerations in the process of drawing up a comprehensive development plan, as well as consolidate the environmental relations and urge the institutions to focus on the issue so that they can play a key role in solving the present and future ecological imbalance.

In a study paper she read out at a symposium on anti-environment crimes organised by the ministry of interior here recently. Dr Mai said the tools of protecting the environment consist of the national institutions and local efforts.  Elaborating, she said the positive contribution to protect the environment depends on two main issues.

These are the awareness of individuals and the understanding of their role, and their responsibility in protecting the environment. She called for the establishment of a local data networks to boost the coordination between the efforts made for the protection of environment on the one hand and conducting opinion polls and forecast on the other. These networks and databases will help in good planning needed to encounter the ecological problems and the future challenges in this context, she said. She also called for the setting up of sections for education, awareness and ecological media within the public relations departments in both public and private sectors.

A clear environmental strategy should be hammered out, and legislations enacted for the protection of environment from the individual and group acts as well as acts of some countries such as the attempts at getting rid of waste on the territories of other states. Necessary financial resources should also be allocated to carry out special programmes on education, awareness and media and train competent personnel to execute these programs, she added.