Are you living in Abu Dhabi without knowing much about the geographical and cultural history of the region? One group is making natural history fun in an attempt to change all that.
History buffs unite, the Emirates Natural History Group will have you educated and enthused. TOAD spoke to the acting chairman about the upcoming events in the Abu Dhabi faction.
Emirates Natural History Group has branches in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai. Established in 1976, after a community meeting regarding the Emirate’s dugong population, the group brings together natural history lovers and those wanting to learn more, to ‘encourage and assist members and others in the study and appreciation of the natural history and archaeology in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, the Middle East and the world’.
Emirates Natural History Group’s acting chairman, Keith Taylor, says the group caters for a variety of members from different backgrounds. ‘We have young students from NYUAD, which is great to see, but we also have a large contingent of middle aged members and then we also have some families that really enjoy participating in the field trips.
‘We host the Natural History Awards each year, we also have lectures and documentary screenings, and coming up soon we are hosting the Brazilian Ambassador to the UAE to discuss biodiversity in the Amazon, which is exciting. We also hosted a scientist from Masdar City for a lecture which was really informative and generated a great response.’ The group also fund grants such as a very successful project recently focusing on the conservation of wild Arabian Leopards in Yemen, which has proven to be effective and is engaging local Yemeni citizens.
The group meets twice per month, to learn and socialise around natural history. Most recently, the group hosted Munir El Kadi, who spoke about his work in the Jordanian Wadi Rum in 2011. Munir shared his findings from the diverse ecosystem in the Wadi and his experiences while working there. Previously, the group hosted a film-screening of a BBC three-part series called Wild Arabia. Keith says it gives people a chance to meet members and see if it’s something they would like to sign up for. As Keith himself notes, ‘I’ve really been enjoying the meetings since I became an active member.’
The group meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month, at the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, and has now also extended its meetings to NYUAD downtown campus too.
The group host lectures on a range of different topics, including natural history, archaeology, palaeontology, Arabic culture and history, geology and astronomy. They also offer field trips, led by sourced experts – previous adventures have included a mangrove tour, family weekend, mountain climb and bird watching. Keith says, ‘We’ve hosted popular events from beach walks to activities such as museum visits, which we do more of in the hotter months. ’
According to Keith, the group have announced their annual gathering that will be a two-day event based in Abu Dhabi, the inter-Emirates Weekend where each faction of the history groups will mix and socialise. ‘It has become a great fun event, where members of the Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai and the newly started Fujairah group all get to meet each other and learn. We also use this event to announce the awards.’
Keith encourages everyone to visit one of the meetings. ‘Come along, everyone is welcome. It’s a great way to see if you would like to become a member. Some families sign up for membership to participate in the field trips, which are not available to non-members, like camping and kayaking.’
Membership costs Dhs100 per person, www.enhg.org
The ENHG Research and Conservation Fund
Each year the group sets aside money in the form of a fund to support research and conservation efforts in the fields of natural history and archaeology in the UAE. The fund is open to members and non-members and awards are made at the discretion of the committee. Past awards include bird studies and funding an archaeological dig at a Neolithic site at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Tribulus
All members and sponsors of the Abu Dhabi chapter receive Tribulus, a bi-annual publication that is created by the group and is the only peer-reviewed English language scientific journal of its kind in the UAE.
