Sustainable development is the key for the survival in 21st century. The natural resources are finite and cannot be used with impunity because we are the custodian of these resources and have responsibility to pass these to the next generation. This monumental task requires several major commitments and most important of them is to arrest population explosion which has already reached seven billion. Natural resources like air to breath, food to eat, and water to drink, and fossil fuel to maintain this life style are being overexploited. Unrestrained consuming culture will accelerate undesired situation. This situation will have more dire consequences in resource limited ecosystems like dry lands. Given the severe scarcity of water, ever increasing population and soil salinization out of the box solutions for the provision of food and clean energy is required to spare meager fresh water resources for conventional agriculture. This volume contains a number of articles dealing with halophyte ecology, bio-geography, ecophysiology, hyper-saline soils, biofuels, biosaline agriculture, biosaline landscaping, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity. It also contains the communication of innovative ideas, such as the research into floating mangroves, seagrass terraces, as well as a World Halophyte Garden containing all known salt-tolerant plant species. It is hoped that the information provided will not only advance vegetation science, but that it will truly generate more interdisciplinarity, networking, awareness, and inspire farmers, and agricultural and landscaping stakeholders to seriously engage in halophyte cash crop production in coastal hyper-saline areas.

Sabkha Ecosystems Volume I: The Arabian Peninsula and Adjacent Countries was published in 2002. It was the first comprehensive volume dealing with the subject of sabkha research, and sabkha environmental management. Valuable new information was provided for the sabkha of numerous countries on and adjacent to the Arabian Peninsula. This new volume now follows up on this important process, and provides data and information on salt desert ecosystems of numerous West and Central Asian countries, including many of which are located in the Arabian Peninsula. The information provided assists the reader to better understand sabkha geology, hydrology, geomorphology, zoology, botany, ecology, ecosystem functioning, as well as sabkha conservation, utilisation, and development. The volume is paramount literature for anyone dealing with sabkha research and development.