Dubai: Twice a week in the last couple of months, a team of marine scientists, researchers and volunteers have been going out in the sea to conduct a survey of dolphin population off the coast of Dubai.
Led by Dr Ada Natoli, assistant professor at the College of Natural and Health Science at Zayed University, and founder/director of the UAE Dolphin Project Initiative, they spend 3-4 hours during each trip, covering a specific transect (a path where one counts and records occurrences of the objects of study) out of a total area of over 1,000 square km of Dubai coastal waters from Port Rashid until Jebel Ali Wildlife Sanctuary.
Abu Dhabi body wins outstanding award for global biodiversity
27 Dec 2020 The population of dugongs in the capital city is the world’s second largest, amounting to 3,000. The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) has won the “Outstanding Contribution to Biodiversity Global 2020 Award by Capital Finance International (CFI.co).
EAD, the region’s largest environmental regulator, was recognised for the role it has played in championing the conservation of biodiversity in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Examples of EAD’s efforts in preserving biodiversity include continuing the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE Founding Father. Known as the First Environmentalist, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan expanded the network of protected areas to 19 areas, 13 of which are terrestrial, representing 16.9 per cent and six marine areas representing 13.9 per cent of the terrestrial and marine ecosystems, respectively.