ABU DHABI, 30 May, 05 (WAM) - The World Conservation Union(IUCN) is focussing on launching a national biodiversity strategyand action plan within the UAE, according to a senior officialof IUCN.
Regional Director of IUCN for West/Central Asia and North Africa(WESCANA)Dr Odeh Al-Jayyousi, who is based in the IUCN's regionalheadquarters in Jordan, saidin Dubai that this plan would ensure sustainable developmentfor future generations.
IUCN has already set up offices in Kuwait, Yemen and Qatar, accordingto a report in the The Gulf Today. At present, the only IUCN members in the UAE are the EnvironmentalResearch and Wildlife Developmental Agency, Environmental FriendsSociety and Emirates Natural History Group, he said.He said 82 countries are members of the IUCN. besides governmentagencies, NGOs, regional and international agencies like UNESCOand WWF.
In the Middle East, the IUCN members include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,Oman and Yemen. Odeh was in Dubai to initiate the process tomake UAE a member.
"The UAE is a prominent forum for international events, andwe are keen to have the emirates as part of our organisation,"he said.
IUCN needs to raise its profile by having more members likeSharjah, he said and added that it has to work with the oil industryon environmental offset programmnes to improve the ecologicalfootprint.
Jayussi said the IUCN focus in the UAE is on forming a localnetwork of experts involved in environmental conservation andsustainable development.
"We met Dr Abdullah Al Najjar, president of Arab Science andTechnology Foundation, and Habiba Al Marashi, chairperson ofthe Emirates Environmental Group, for establishing a regionalprogramme focussing on biodiversity information, conservationassociated with poverty and the private sector," he said. Eightpriority regional programme themes were also identified followingan extensive planning process within the WESCANA region. Theseincluded biodiversity, drylands and desertification, water, marineand coastal ecosystems, protected areas, environmental law, educationand communication, and equity and sustainability, he said.
The IUCN, he said, believed that there is a richness of knowledgeand expertise in environmental conservation that should be sharedwith the rest of the world.
"The IUCN can play a vital role in facilitating and supportingknowledge management in conservation and sustainable developmentto activate and operationalise global conventions like desertification,climate change and biodiversity at national levels," he observed.
Educating people about sustainable development is another keyissue that the IUCN feels should be part of this decade of educationon this subject, he pointed out while urging the UAE to contributeto this momentum.
Noting that conservation cannot be separated from poverty alleviation,he said the international community has committed to "halvingby 2015" the proportion of people living in absolute povertyas well as the proportion of people suffering from hunger.
Detailing the IUCN's global assistance, he said organisation'srecent effort was providing aid in the tsunami-affected areasand sharing knowledge about relevant mechanism and processesto alleviate damage to the national environments.
"We have an environmental law centre in Bonn (Germany) and apublication centre in Cambridge (UK) to bring out the "RED List"which highlights the different wildlife species that are endangeredor facing the threat of extinction," he said while also mentioningabout the IUCN's world learning network for promoting educationon sustainable development and conservation.
"The IUCN is the only international environmental organisationhaving observer status in the United Nations," he said, addingthat the organisation worked with the World Bank and United NationsDevelopment Programme to implement technical advice or play therole of convenor or facilitator to address environmental issues.
He said the IUCN's assistance in the Middle East included helpingQatar on its protected areas and ecotourism, and some programmesconcerning ostriches. "We have signed agreements with the EnvironmentProtection Agency in Kuwait and the National Commission for WildlifeConservation and Development in Saudi Arabia, where we supportthem in environmental conservation according to their needs,"he said.
