Zayed: A Determined Spirit

The late President of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, had always held the conservation and protection of the environment close to his heart. Various developments across the UAE have shown that while there was a great interest in improving the social and economic conditions of the people, great care and importance was given to protect the environment. Studies and surveys were carried out, environmental institutions and organizations were set up, strategies were drawn, and priorities were set regarding environmental issues such as water and air pollution, combating desertification, and the sustainable use of natural resources.

Due to these efforts, the UAE can be regarded as a shining example in determination to achieve big steps forward in all domains. It has successfully managed to march toward progress and modernity but at the same time try very hard to protect its heritage and culture.

When Sheikh Zayed governed the Eastern region, he aimed to make water available to all people for free. He managed this by directing that springs (aflaj) be built on farming lands and through land reclamation.

 

When he later became ruler of all Abu Dhabi Emirate, his passion grew for environmental issues. He banned fishing in Abu Dhabi Emirate in 1977 and pressed forward to transform the arid desert into green despite all doubts around him and those intolerable high temperatures. Yet, he was realistic about the harsh side of this amiable desert, with its sand storms, harsh weather, and moving sands. He believed that the greenery could alleviate all of that and curtail it. Studies conducted at the time assured that Abu Dhabi did suffer from desertification and sand movement over the already set up farms. However, Sheikh Zayed, to solve these problems, worked on leveling the dunes and sand hills and covering the surface with mud. He then divided the land into pieces and distributed them to the people to farm. He ensured that they were provided with irrigation networks, water, seeds, fertilizer, and agriculture guidance. He worked on setting up green belts around the farms to protect them against the winds and to stabilize the soil. He directed for forestry round the cities to protect them against the sandy storms and to delimit the humidity ratio.

To combat desertification, Sheikh Zayed wanted the UAE to take a number of indispensable measures such as erecting dams, taking care of ground water, using fertilizers, building fertilizer factories, and planting salt tolerant plants. He directed both sides of the Abu Dhabi-Al Ain highway to be filled with greenery, an action that marked the beginning of his success in managing the cruelty of the desert. Thus, Al Ain city is known today as the Garden City.

Sheikh Zayed once said water was the most important resource to the UAE. Under his directives, several studies and researches have been conducted in order to find new ways and mechanisms for effectively conserving water from squander, and looking for new additional sources and boosting the ground water reserve.

Sheikh Zayed encouraged the establishment of a number of protected areas and nature reserves. The biggest shining example is Sir Bani Yas Island, considered one of the biggest reserves in the Middle East in terms of area. It is a green haven for endangered species such as gazelles.

In the early 1960s, Sheikh Zayed was among the first who paid attention to the plight of the Arabian oryx or Al Maha as it is known in Arabic, whose numbers were quickly declining due to hunting and expansion of developments. He directed for the capture of as many as possible and four were sent to the newly-established Al Ain Zoo where a breeding programme had begun. Efforts were successful and the number greatly increased to 2500.

On falconry and nature conservation, Sheikh Zayed has inspired others in the region after launching several initiatives that were fruitful on the national, regional, and international levels. Among the most important initiatives of Sheikh Zayed was the organization of the 1st International Conference on Falconry and Nature Conservation in Abu Dhabi in late 1976, which for the first time combined Arab falconers with their counterparts from Europe, North America, and the Far East. Such a conference was the real beginning towards gathering falconers to discuss nature conservation.

 In 1977, he directed that Al Ain Zoo begin a breeding program for the Asian Houbara Bustard, even before it reached 'vulnerable' status. In 1982, the first captive chick saw daylight in the UAE. In 1989, the National Avian Research Center was founded and later incorporated under the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi. The Center launched its ambitious programme to breed captive Houbara, and in 2004 it produced 200 chicks. It is aiming to achieve Sheikh Zayed's dream to produce 10,000 birds yearly and release most of them into the wild to increase their population. Sheikh Zayed also directed the Center to enhance its collaboration with the countries within the Houbara range such as China and Yemen, in order to push them toward joining the national, regional, and international initiatives. The Emirates Centre for Wildlife Propagation and its Houbara breeding program) in Missour, Morocco, was established in 1995 as per directives of Sheikh Zayed.

Sheikh Zayed revived the habit of releasing falcons back into the wild at the end of each hunting season. He even set an example and donated many of his falcons for release. The Sheikh Zayed Falcon Release Programme for releasing falcons began in 1995. By 2004, about 1000 falcons (Hurr and Shaheen) were released and continued their migration course to Pakistan and Central Asia. Illegal hunting was considerably controlled in neighboring countries by the issuing of Falcon Passports.

Under the directives of Sheikh Zayed, the UAE encouraged many studies and researches on conserving the Saker falcon (Hurr) as a vulnerable bird. The UAE was the first to sound the alarm and warn against the dying out of the Saker. The Abu Dhabi Declaration, issued during the Saker Falcon Symposium, organized by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, 2003, called for initiatives and collaborative projects in the GCC countries to conserve the Saker.

In 1993, the Federal Environment Agency was established to oversee environmental issues on the federal level. In 1996, the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (formerly the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency) was set up to help ahieve sustainable development in the UAE, to work scientifically for the protection of the environment and to enhance and coordinate regional and international collaboration in this respect.

The UAE strongly believes in the importance of collaborative international action in protecting the environment, biological diversity and limiting environmental degradation all over the world and so it has signed several global and regional treaties.

An example of how Sheikh Zayed strongly encouraged studies and research on environmental protection was how he donated the tuition fees of postgraduate students studying the environment in Al Khaleej Al Arabi University in the Kingdom of Bahrain. This donation was an example of how he encouraged the pursual of scientific and academic studies, either from UAE universities or from any other university in the Gulf region.