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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
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	<title>Abu Dhabi environmental news</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/abu-dhabi/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Arabian Gulf’s fragile marine ecosystem threatened by current crisis (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 May 2026 15:06:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Razan Al Mubarak]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319117</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Abu Dhabi, Iran, Middle East, and Persian Gulf]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Coastal Ecosystems, Commentary, Conflict, Dugong, Ecosystems, Estuaries, Marine, Marine Animals, Oceans, Oil, Oil Spills, Pollution, Seabirds, War, and Water Pollution]]>
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							<![CDATA[At this time of year, the waters of the Arabian Gulf support one of the most significant gatherings of marine life anywhere in the world. Thousands of dugongs congregate in shallow coastal areas, including mother-and-calf pairs, dependent on the 3,000 square kilometers (well over 1,000 square miles) of seagrass meadows in Abu Dhabi waters. Along [&#8230;]]]>
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																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At this time of year, the waters of the Arabian Gulf support one of the most significant gatherings of marine life anywhere in the world. Thousands of dugongs congregate in shallow coastal areas, including mother-and-calf pairs, dependent on the 3,000 square kilometers (well over 1,000 square miles) of seagrass meadows in Abu Dhabi waters. Along the same coastline, sea turtles return to nest, seabirds enter their breeding season, and migratory birds pass through wetlands that connect continents. Mangroves and coral reefs line these coasts. These ecosystems exist alongside the same coastal zones that support cities, energy and industrial infrastructure. They also underpin human life across the region. Tens of millions of people depend on desalination, drawing seawater from these same environments. Their survival, like ours, depends on clean water, intact habitats and stable environmental conditions. I have had the rare privilege, through my work, to witness these systems up close. Their richness is extraordinary, but so too is their fragility. The danger is that war turns that fragility into lasting damage. Indian Ocean humpback dolphin in Mangrove Marine National Park, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Image courtesy of Maitha Bughanoom. An airstrike on an oil tanker, or a collision, fire or loss of control by one of these vessels would release oil or other pollutants into shallow waters, where they spread rapidly across seagrass beds and coastal habitats. Water quality declines, oxygen levels fall, nesting sites are lost, and breeding cycles are disrupted. Local populations can collapse, and recovery becomes uncertain. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/arabian-gulfs-fragile-marine-ecosystem-threatened-by-current-crisis-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319117</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildlife conservation needs a post-COVID recovery plan (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/wildlife-conservation-needs-a-post-covid-recovery-plan-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/wildlife-conservation-needs-a-post-covid-recovery-plan-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Jun 2020 12:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Razan Al Mubarak]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
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					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=230891</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Abu Dhabi, Global, and United Arab Emirates]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, COVID-19, Environment, Extinction, Funding, Interviews with conservation players, philanthropy, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ironically, the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in some unprecedented improvements to air quality. Levels of nitrogen dioxide have decreased in many parts of the world, including by 30% in the United States and 60% in the United Arab Emirates. Global greenhouse gas emissions are forecast to decrease by 8% this year, the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ironically, the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in some unprecedented improvements to air quality. Levels of nitrogen dioxide have decreased in many parts of the world, including by 30% in the United States and 60% in the United Arab Emirates. Global greenhouse gas emissions are forecast to decrease by 8% this year, the largest decrease in more than 70 years. While these improvements will be difficult to sustain as nations restart their economies, it has clearly demonstrated through a live experiment that not only is significant improvement to environmental quality possible, but also it can be achieved relatively fast. At the same time, viral social media posts of wildlife’s recovery have populated our newsfeeds: the mating of two giant pandas for the first time in 13 years at a zoo in Hong Kong, mountain gazelles spotted against the backdrop of Burj Al Arab in Dubai, and millions of olive ridley turtles hatching on the beaches in Odisha, India, among others. But what should we make of these supposed signs of nature’s return? Is there rigorous scientific research to support these anecdotes as there is for the clearly documented improvements to air quality and emissions? Or are we simply searching for some silver light in an otherwise dark sky? A giant panda. Image by Claire Rowland on Flickr CC BY 2.0 license. Based on my experience as the former head of the largest environmental regulator in the Middle East, I am genuinely impressed with reports of cleaner air and reduced&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/wildlife-conservation-needs-a-post-covid-recovery-plan-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-230891</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Saving the unicorns: using the sun to produce freshwater and restore an endangered species</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/saving-the-unicorns-using-the-sun-to-produce-freshwater-and-restore-an-endangered-species/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/saving-the-unicorns-using-the-sun-to-produce-freshwater-and-restore-an-endangered-species/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Nov 2015 16:11:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Katie Taylor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sue Palminteri]]>
					</author>
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											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Abu Dhabi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Endangered Species, Restoration, Technology, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Solar-powered desalination plants are used in the Middle East to rehabilitate the arid habitat of the vulnerable Arabian oryx. Do the benefits of restoring habitat outweigh the drawbacks of desalination plants?]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The lack of freshwater in arid regions of the world leads to spiraling negative effects on both wild ecosystems and the human world. Global freshwater supplies are in decline due to climate change and human overuse, while, according to scientists at the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Limnology, the “provisioning of water to water-stressed regions for human need is routinely done at the expense of ecosystems, both aquatic and terrestrial”. In “State of the World’s Freshwater Ecosystems: Physical, Chemical, and Biological Changes,” Stephen Carpenter and colleagues state that, “conventional responses to water scarcity are withdrawals of deep groundwater and surface water storage. In many regions,…groundwater withdrawals exceed recharge, so groundwater pools are declining and groundwater-dependent ecosystems are threatened”. The depletion of natural freshwater sources for wild ecosystems catalyzes negative interactions between humans and wildlife. For example, California’s diminishing, natural freshwater resources prompt black bears and other wildlife to enter human-populated areas to access freshwater, where they are met, at times, with hostility and can be “riddled with bullets” if seen. Desert landscape in Abu Dhabi. Photo credit: gordontour/Flickr While some freshwater resources are obtained naturally, through seasonal streams and pools, communities in arid regions extract water more frequently through artificial means: wells, dams, underground aquifers and, more recently, desalination plants. Freshwater resources are depleting rapidly with the rise of the human population. “Saudi Arabia’s water demand has increased from 2.3 million cubic meters in 1980 to 30 million cubic meters in 2000” due to increases in population and development (National&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/11/saving-the-unicorns-using-the-sun-to-produce-freshwater-and-restore-an-endangered-species/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-158913</doi>				</item>
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