The multi million desert village project will be in Abu Dhabi
Falconry and traditional Bedouin lifestyle will be showcased at a multi million dirham desert village project to be built in Abu Dhabi.
The team behind the centre intend to become a major attraction for tourists and future generations of Emiratis.
The scheme the brainchild of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces is being developed by the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD).
The plans were revealed yesterday to Emirates Today at the International Festival of Falconry at the Englefield estate in the British country of Berkshire.
"We are at the stage of designing the concept at the moment so we do not know exactly how big it will be although we know it will be huge," said Majid Al Mansouri, EAD Secretary General and a bored member of the Emirates Falconers Club.
"It will be a heritage village where people can go and learn about UAE culture, falconry, conservation and how people once lived and interact with nature. It will be somewhere that we can take our children and show them about our culture and how we used to live."
The development at a site yet to be confirmed in Abu Dhabi's interior will include a museum, residential areas and hotels, said Al Mansouri, who was representing the UAE at the festival.
A team of eight researchers from EAD and the national falconry club are drawing up plans for the educational and interactive centre. There will be zones that depict scenes of Bedouin lifestyle, a desert, oasis and an old souk.
"One of the main focuses will be education," Al Mansou0ri said. "We need this project to teach to our children. There are things about our culture that we are worried we will miss. We are creating this for conversation, education, and cultural preservation."
News of the project follows announcements about other global attractions to be built in Abu Dhabi such as the Guggenheim and Louvre art gallaries.
Arab falcons take to the Berkshire skies
The UAE yesterday donated Dh7.5 million to a body that promotes falconry worldwide.
The cash given to the Falconry Heritage Trust will be invested as an endowment fund, with the grants made available to falconers, conservationists and researchers.
The aim is to encourage an understanding of Arabian desert culture.
The trust will develop an archive of materials relating to the heritage of falconry and its contribution to conservation, biodiversity and cultural identity. The records will be accessible online.
The donation was made on the closing day of the International Festival of Falconry in the UK.
The UAE had a large pres ence at the event, with 70 Emiratis running themed stalls. A parade of UAE falconers, Bedouin tents, camels and saluki dogs were all on show in the English countryside.Teams from over 30 other countries also took part.
Airline worker John Green, 58, said: "It's strange to have a Bedouin tent and camels in the... fields with an English stately home in the background but it's lovely to see.
"Seeing this impressive display from the [UAE] has taught me a lot.
"I'd love to find out more and it would be wonderful if an event like this took place in Dubai or Abu Dhabi." Engineer Ade O'Conner, 47, from Dorset, said: "There is definitely something we can learn from the falconers in Arabia because there is a difference in how the sport is seen in the UK and the UAE.
"In the United Kingdom, falconry almost died out after the Middle Ages and we are experiencing something of a renaissance.
"But it's never been unpopular in Arabia it has always been part of their society." Falconry in the UAE is under threat because of the declining number of hunting birds and a shortage of a major quarry species, a bird called the houbara.
My first falcon
"I learned how to handle a falcon when I was a child," said Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General of the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi and a board member of the Emirates Falconers Club.
He spoke of his first experiences of falconry: "I owned my first bird when I was 10 or 11 years old. It was a saqr and we called it Mayouf.
"I practised with the bird; it was a very good hunter. It lived for two years and when it died, I cried.
"Falconry is not only a passion, it has deep roots in our culture.
"It [says something] about the way we live [our lives] and the way we interact with each other - our friends when we are out in the wilderness and practising falconry.
By James Renil
© Emirates Today 2007
