The Greening of Qatar: Benefits for Wildlife
by Christine Oldfield
A similar story is being played out in many parts of Arabia. Areas that were once desert have been turned green by irrigation schemes which have boosted agricultural production and beautified urban developments. In the process, areas that were once hostile to many species of wildlife have been transformed into safe havens and many species have moved-in, boosting natural wildlife populations and creating hot-spots for bird watchers, naturalists and photographers. In this brief account, the author, who has observed the changes taking place in Qatar, describes some of the positive aspects of that country’s irrigation and cultivation programme.
In purely environmental terms Qatar could be described as an inhospitable
place, with its vast stretches of flat, barren desert relieved only by a
few low jebels and sand dunes or perhaps a clump of trees or loose scrub.
Over the years there has been relatively little incentive to persuade over-flying
migratory birds to land here, and even less to tempt bird-watchers to come
to search for them. To this day Qatar’s bird population remains under- watched
and under-recorded so there is every opportunity for dedicated observers
to add new recorded species to the growing list of Qatar’s avifauna.
The first checklist of Qatar’s birds was produced in 1986 by a one time
resident of the Gulf. It was seven years before she felt that there was
sufficient information to update that list. Several species previously rejected
or unconfirmed have been added to the list but there is still a considerable
number of species awaiting confirmation.
Recent development, including the greening of the capital city of Doha,
and of other towns, has added considerably to possible bird habitat. Parks,
gardens, roundabouts and central reservations of dual carriageways are regularly
watered and many government-owned and private farms have been established
throughout the interior. The increased vegetation and food supply has attracted
a greater number, and probably a greater variety, of passage migrants but
the number of keen bird watchers remains small and transient and undoubtedly
many species pass through Qatar without being noticed.
Some species that have previously been reported as scarce are now present
in large, and seemingly ever increasing, numbers. These are birds which
have been resident in other parts of the Middle East and whose range has
now extended to include Qatar. The white cheeked bulbul is a case in point.
Previously common in locations to the north and east of Qatar it is believed
that a few birds that were deliberately introduced into Qatar successfully
bred and established what was, at the time of the 1986 checklist, a “very
small breeding population in Doha”. Today they are to be found twittering
musically wherever there are bushes and trees and their breeding status
is no longer questioned!
The collared dove, which has colonised the Gulf during the last four decades
or so was listed in 1986 as “very scarce” in Qatar. Its new listing
describes it as “widespread and often numerous”. Over the years
the Indian house crow has been gradually extending its range northwards
and westwards through the Gulf region and across Arabia. During the first
part of 1994 it made its first appearance in Qatar with several sightings
being recorded. Perhaps in another ten years or so it too might be listed
as widespread and numerous.
Up until 1993 the little owl in Qatar had been recorded as “scarce
and locally distributed” in most months of the year with breeding suspected
but unconfirmed. In the end it was a jogger who reported that his regular
route through the desert at dawn took him past a rocky ridge from where
a family of owls watched him each morning. Investigation confirmed that
they were little owls, five in all, and had it not been for their prominent
perch they might never have been observed. They were a very pale sandy colour
and hardly distinguishable from the rocks around them. Sitting on the rocks,
they resembled benign cuddly toys but in fact these birds are capable of
overpowering quite large rodents and lizards with their strong talons. The
little owl has now been added to the list of Qatar’s confirmed breeding
species.
Much fieldwork remains to be done in Qatar and for anyone willing to brave the climate and the terrain birding trips are regularly rewarding and sometimes exciting. Volume 2, Number 1