With growing recognition both within Arabia and internationally
of the need for greater attention to be paid to the preservation
of the environment and of wildlife, the United Arab Emirates has
moved, over the course of the past year, to take a number of significant
initiatives, which should help considerably to create the appropriate
policy guidelines on environmental issues.
At a Governmental level, one key step taken has been the formal
establishment of the Federal Environmental Agency, which replaces
the former Higher Environmental Committee, but has substantially
more in the way both of responsibility and of the power to carry
out policy. Charged with the task not only of ensuring that public
health requirements are taken into consideration, such as in spheres
like air and marine pollution, but also with protecting the environment
and wildlife, the new Agency is responsible for implementing environmental
impact assessments on all major new projects, and of producing
recommendations for wildlife conservation.
In November the Cabinet endorsed an FEA proposal for the introduction
of a formal ban on the import of houbara bustards into the country:
a move that the Cabinet warmly endorsed, noting that it was in
line with the country’s membership of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna, CITES.
There have been developments over the past year at a less formal
level too. The oldest of the country’s environmental bodies, The
Emirates Natural History Group, became the UAE’s first non-governmental
member of the World Conservation Union, IUCN, and a second application
for membership has now been lodged by the Abu Dhabi based National
Avian Research Centre, while FEA officials are reviewing the possibility
of the Agency making a formal application to become the UAE’s
state member, both to benefit from the access to international
expertise on conservation matters, and to underline the Government’s
commitment to these matters in general.
A number of new voluntary groups have also sprung up over the
course of the last few months, with Emirates Environmental Groups
being established in the main cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which
are working closely with the local Municipalities to encourage
recycling and a better understanding of the need to keep the environment
clean. An Arabian Leopard Trust has also been established by concerned
volunteers in Dubai, with the objective of encouraging all sectors
of society to recognise the need to preserve the UAE’s endangered
species of cats, including the caracal lynx and Gordon’s wildcat.
Concern for environmental matters within the Emirates is by no
means new, however. For more than fifteen years hunting has been
banned throughout much of the country, while the taking of bird
or turtle eggs is also illegal. While breaches of the law still
sometimes occur, a combination of legal pressure and persuasive
education is gradually getting the message across, and the available
scientific evidence suggests that some of the country’s wildlife,
such as the Cape hare and the Arabian gazelle, is already benefiting.
Extensive afforestation programmes in which nearly a hundred million
trees have been planted throughout the UAE, many of them in towns
and cities, have had a dramatic impact on the availability of
natural food and shelter for many species of wildlife. At least
100,000 hectares of open desert land has been transformed into
woodland and many of the plantations are now reaching maturity.
With a steady supply of freshwater, primarily from desalination
plants or through recycling systems, new habitats have been created
which have proven to be attractive for both resident birds and
migrants. The number of bird species breeding in the Emirates,
for example, has shown a steady increase in recent years. Previously
uncommon migrants such as the olivaceous warbler and the European
bee-eater benefit considerably from this rapid increase in vegetation
cover.
There has been progress too in another field, that of the breeding
of endangered species. For the past few decades President Sheikh
Zayed has been breeding animals like the Arabian gazelle and the
Arabian oryx on the island of Sir Bani Yas, now effectively a
private wildlife reserve. The oryx, descended from a couple of
pairs caught from the wild thirty years ago, have risen in number
to 120 animals now inhabiting the island, whilst the gazelle numbers
are now so substantial, at around 20,000, that the first phase
of a reintroduction programme into the mainland desert has begun.
Looking beyond the success of the captive breeding programme,
there are now plans, within the framework of the relevant CITES
regulations, to develop exchange programmes with other wildlife
parks and zoos world-wide.
There still remains much to be done, both in terms of enhancing
public awareness of the need to protect the environment and wildlife,
and in terms of ensuring that the existing legislation is effectively
implemented. It has become clear over the course of the past year
that the will to provide the necessary level of environmental
protection is present as never before, thanks to a very considerable
extent to the personal encouragement given by the President himself
to many of the initiatives that have been taken. This level of
commitment and support bodes well for the future of the UAE’s
wildlife.