Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, known as the Green Sheikh, at the Mina Al Salam hotel in Dubai. It isn’t often that I eat dates, drink coffee, and wax green with a Sheikh from Ajman. But yesterday I did. Known around the world as the Green Sheikh, Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi […]
UAE high school students have a chance to flex their eco-blogging muscles for Green Prophet’s writing competition. Green Prophet is launching a blogging competition for green-minded UAE students. In order to encourage students to think about environmental issues in the Emirates and the role that they play in improving them, we are inviting students from across […]
Professor Mohammed Kassas in his office at Cairo University, photographed by Louise Sarant If Hassan Fathy is the Middle East’s father of sustainable architecture, then Mohamed Kassas is the prophet of desertification. The spry ninety year old Egyptian Professor of Botany told Almasry Alyoum that his love of nature sprouted in a fishing village along the […]
Treehugger blogger Jennifer Hattam writes about environmental issues in Turkey and the greater Middle East. Following a long career with Sierra magazine, Jennifer Hattam packed her bags and moved to Turkey. There she writes about environmental issues for Treehugger (including Turkey’s plans to install nuclear power plants despite the Fukushima disaster in Japan) and the […]
In the last 30 years, 110 Iranian park rangers have been killed. Environmental bloggers pay tribute. Despite certain joint environmental initiatives between its government and that of Qatar, Iran really needs its nature lovers and advocates. Twenty-seven people die a day as a result of the Tehran’s pollution, its national parks are strewn with rubbish, […]
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, VP for UAE & ruler of Dubai, presented South Korean President Lee Myung-bak with the Zayed Environmental Prize. Named after the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed, the $1 million Zayed Environmental prize is awarded biannually to political leaders, scientists, and activists who are leading the way in sustainable initiatives. Najib Saab, the […]
Internationally-acclaimed dance Ido Tadmor does an enigmatic dance for the Dead Sea at Kalya Beach. (image by Inbal Marmari) Becoming one of seven natural wonders can have enormous benefits for tourism, though competition is steep. Among the 28 candidates for the present campaign are the Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos, and the Grand Canyon. Scores […]
Along with 70 other environmental advocates, journalists, scientists, and other concerned citizens, Dana Al Hammadi is en route to Antarctica on an awareness-raising mission. Dana Al Hammadi is an inspiration to women everywhere. Thirty-seven years old and a mother to five children, she has embarked on one of the most important trips of her lifetime […]
National Geographic "isn't just about animals": that's the message the Editor-in-Chief of the Arabic version intends to convey.
Increasingly shameful to members of America’s conservative wing, Glenn Beck evokes Code Red by dismissing 350.org as “Communistic.” Sadly, he’s no match for our witty friend Bill McKibben. Who the hey is Alexandra Kollontai, you ask? Why, she is the author of The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman. Of the year 1917, a time when Bolsheviks […]
What do you know about Iraq’s environmental issues? Well, if you’re anything like me surprisingly little considering its pivotal place in the Middle East I think this post was born at the moment I realised I knew so little about Iraq and it environmental concerns. I get to write a lot on all sorts of […]
This story makes our hearts sing! Taking the threat of plastic bags seriously, Abu Dhabi is preparing for the 2013 total ban with a plastic-free weekend. Residents of the United Arab Emirates use 11.6 billion plastic bags every year. That’s 11.6 billion camel-killing, toxin-oozing, non-biodegradable bags that choke our water ways and blight beautiful places. […]
This beautiful table designed to evoke the genie in the lamp was carved out of layers of biodegradable, corrugated cardboard. Sanserif Creatius is not the first designer to notice the jewels that comprise ancient Arabic art, design, and architecture. Mey and Boaz Khan made these lovely ecoolers that mimic ancient Arabic detail and ecological awareness, […]
If you’re in Dubai, don’t miss out on the opportunity to see Camille Zakharia’s beautiful photographic exhibition called Coastal Promenade. Even tiny Bahrain has been swept up by the furor that has uprooted despotic regimes throughout the Middle East. And it’s not hard to see why. This once quaint coastal country has been overrun by […]
From March 4 to 5th, unplug from your computer and back into your soul, and save the environment for a day. Jewish tradition considers a day of down time sacred. For observant Jews, Shabbat (or the Sabbath) is a time to switch off electronics, to unplug the laptop and television, to ditch the Wii, and […]