Most tourists who visit Oman’s Gulf coast are treated to pristine views and sparkling waters, but Ray Montoya, an American angler and art teacher living in Muskat, produces YouTube videos that show another side to the country. Using a small yellow kayak, the hapless eco-crusader travels along the nearly 1,000 miles of coast, frequently discovering […]
Activists have launched an international campaign to boycott key Namibian industries ahead of its annual slaughter of 91,000 seals. Not long ago we wrote a story about Hatem Yavuz, the “King of Seal Killers,” and our readers were outraged. An Australian man with Turkish heritage, Yavuz is now responsible for 85% of the world’s seal […]
There are 250 rescued animals living at the BETA animal shelter just outside Beirut; too many for fancy villa owners. It should come as no surprise, after seeing the video of the Ethiopian maid Alem Dechasa being beaten by her employer, that Lebanon also has a deplorable animal rights record. We recently featured the devastating […]
Dubai is considering biological control: camels to dine in Dubai’s Ras al Khor wildlife sanctuary overrun by mangrove trees Too many mangroves is not a good thing – at least not at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai, where they were introduced in 1990. So an ecologist at Dubai’s Wildlife Protection office has […]
America joins Jordan in a celebration of green, but we are not sold on the deal. The USA and Jordan recently entered into environmental partnership, cosigning a plan to promote four distinct Jordanian initiatives: ecosystem conservation; increased education; improved private sector performance; and stronger environmental law. This agreement wrapped up a one-day forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation […]
The Middle East can learn about energy savings from the Japanese, and the Japanese concept of setsuden. Sometime during the mid 1990s a series of heat waves coincided with a refueling shut-down at one of my home state’s nuclear power plants. Citizens were asked to voluntarily cut usage. Somehow we managed to conserve the equivalent […]
A permaculture garden and a mud-brick house, the Dead Sea Harmony Centre in Jordan spreads the word on sustainability William Alajalian, who was born and raised in the Dead Sea area of Ghor Mazraa, may be new to environmentalism but he is more passionate and pro-active than most campaigners. Around three years ago, his passion […]
We’ve seen naked people bare all for the Dead Sea, and a pledge by the Israel Chemicals Corp to pay billions in damage to save the hotels there. But this is not enough: The Dead Sea is dying and governments aren’t doing anything to protect it for future generations. In response, today November 21, Friends […]
Like the Dead Sea scrolls of nature, an extinct frog from Israel returns to life Considered extinct for about 50 years, the Hula painted frog was spotted last week in Israel by a nature parks warden out monitoring the birds. The Hula Valley was covered in DDT and drained decades ago to stop the spread […]
Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture denies that a crazy eye-popping disease is killing a substantial population of fish in the Sea of Galilee. A bizarre disease is killing off a host of fish in the Sea of Galilee, including the St. Peter’s fish considered sacred because of its relevance to the biblical bread and fishes story. […]
Expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates may not be ready to don his kandoora just yet – an ankle-length white shirt woven from wool or cotton – but they do lean heavily on Ali Al Saloom’s friendly inside scoop. The man behind “Ask Ali” – a weekly column in The National’s M Magazine – this young […]
Ken Finn is a passionate man. Sitting with him in his Brighton kitchen (which he built himself), our conversation ranges from his book, ‘My Journey With a Remarkable Tree’, to the current state of the economy: “We’ve got to decouple the juggernaut [of economic meltdown] that is hurtling towards us” is a memorable quote from […]
This juvenile cheetah is paraded in front of several onlookers in the streets of Dubai.
Every year artists are invited to the Asilah Arts Festival to contribute colorful murals to this Moroccan Town’s white walls – keeping the town clean and well-funded. If you are among those who associate art with the rail-thin, woebegone people who produce it and not much else, then you might be surprised to learn about […]
Jeita Grotto in Lebanon is one of three Middle Eastern finalists in the 7 Natural Wonders of the World Campaign. Can a new cave boost its candidacy? Speleologists first detected a new cave at Jeita Grotto in 2004. A popular tourist destination and Lebanon’s national symbol, the existing 9km long network of karstic limestone caves […]