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Strategy devised to protect Arabian Oryx

ABU DHABI — A regional strategy for the conservation of the Arabian Oryx was unveiled at a symposium hosted in the capital recently by the Coordinating Committee for Conservation of Arabian Oryx (CCCAO) in cooperation with the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi.

The workshop was attended by 25 participants from the committee’s member-countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Syria, Yemen and Jordan.

Addressing the participants, EAD Secretary-General Majid Al Mansouri said the symposium was in line with the efforts of the CCCAO to conserve and reintroduce the Arabian Oryx into its natural habitats.

Experts, who attended the symposium, exchanged information on captive breeding of the Arabian Oryx and discussed the challenges and obstacles being faced by conservation programmes.

Al Mansouri added the strategy aims at facilitating the conservation of the Arabian Oryx in the region with the long-term objective of achieving a viable population in the Arabian Peninsula.

According to the strategy, the member-countries would devise regulations and enhance enforcement of wildlife legislations, and attempt to increase wild oryx populations by reviewing and improving existing conservation programmes, releasing the animals into their natural habitats and minimising deterioration of habitat.

The next meeting of the committee will be held in Doha, Qatar in April 2008.