The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment Celebrated the second Gulf Wildlife Day on December 30 under the theme ‘Together to Conserve Wildlife’ with the aim of enhancing cooperation in the field of wildlife conservation among the GCC countries.
Held on December 30 every year, Gulf Wildlife Day is celebrated in the region by environmental authorities organizing wide-ranging activities to raise awareness of wildlife conservation.
His Excellency Dr Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the Minister of Climate Change and Environment said: “Through the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the competent authorities, the UAE has been playing a key role in wildlife conservation. Our country has rich biodiversity that includes a set of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The government is working to preserve this status through developing legislation and adopting initiatives designed to achieve the national goals of the UAE Biodiversity Strategy by 2021.”
He added: “In response to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, we have launched our Wildlife Sustainability Program. Its purpose is to adopt an integrated package of policies, procedures and research activities concerning the conservation of native species as well as regulation of trade in animal and plant in line with international environmental conventions.”
Expanding on the specifics of the program, he said: “Among its goals are identifying invasive species and implementing mechanisms to control their spread as well as prevent their further imports. The program has initiated a number of significant steps, such as the National Red List of Threatened Species project, and the National Invasive Species project.”
He added: “Relevant local authorities are coordinating with the Ministry to increase the number of natural protected areas in the UAE with the aim of the sustainability of threatened species and conserving important natural habitats. Protected areas contribute to maintaining environmental balance, safeguarding genetic resources, as well as restoring degraded ecosystems and rehabilitating species at risk of extinction.”
The UAE already has several species rehabilitation initiatives in place, most notably breeding programs for the houbara bustard, Arabian oryx, Arabian leopard and various birds of prey, such as the saker and peregrine falcons.
Gulf Wildlife Day represents an annual opportunity to raise awareness about common environmental threats, such as climate change, loss of natural habitat as a result of urban expansion, overgrazing, overhunting and overfishing, and illegal wildlife trafficking. It also underscores the significance of maintaining natural ecosystems to retain biodiversity.
Equally importantly, for human beings, the ecosystem provides essential resources that play a critical role in reducing poverty and achieving economic development, such as food, water, and medicinal substances. It also fulfills a multitude of functions necessary for human well-being, such as air purification and mitigation of adverse effects of climate change.
In their drive to tackle these issues, the GCC countries have taken many concrete actions. Most important among these are organizing the Convention on the Conservation of Wildlife and Natural Habitats and launching the Gulf Environmental Strategy, in which the UAE plays a leading role.