Fitted with a satellite device, this flamingo, Yasmeena, will help Abu Dhabi researchers track the bird’s migratory routes. Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency (EAD) has been busy this year. In addition to rescuing endangered baboons and hyenas from a private home, and caring for coral reefs one disc at a time, they have played a pivotal […]
After giving up the consumer lifestyle, Tafline reflects on how her Christmas list has evolved. It might not be what you’d expect. In four years, I turned my habits around completely: instead of buying the newest, snazziest jeans, I’ve been wearing the same clothes for nearly two years. And if I must get more, I […]
In the alien and isolated landscape of the Socotra Island, just off the coast of Yemen, biodiversity is in a struggle for survival Declared an UNESCO world heritage site in July 2008, the Socotra Archipelago which is located in the northwest Indian Ocean is home to some of the rarest species in the world. According […]
Plants to restore the Carmel forest by planting new trees are misguided, according to a leading researcher. Rushing to the scene of the recent Carmel fire to plant a pile of trees would be a mistake, according to a leading researcher from Israel’s University of Haifa. While Professor Ido Izhaki recognizes the unfortunate toll that […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzY4SGgEB7g&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] Sometimes less is more. WWF creates a brilliant file format that can’t be printed. The Chinese used to write books on silk. Think about that for a second. If you thought you had to produce an entire sheet of silk in order to pass on that really bad joke your father sent you, might […]
This spiny little creature can help us survive the Middle East water crisis. How do we value nature? Do we value trees for their role as carbon sinks? As hope in hard times, like Anne Frank did? Or must we dangle a giant price tag from a branch – put a number on that sucker […]
Is the Dead Sea one of the top 7 natural wonders of the world? One hundred bikers are coming to show their support. The Seven Wonders of the World is a famous list of impressive ancient constructions, largely centered around the Mediterranean. (We still think that the Mediterranean and the whole Middle East are pretty […]
Though the practice of establishing Himas to protect nature had previously declined, the Middle East is currently witnessing a resurgence of this ancient tradition. Now that Green Prophet has looked into the tradition of ‘Hima’ or environmental preservation in the Middle East, this post will explore some of the most famous examples of Hima and […]
Hima, practised for over 14,000 years in the Arabian Peninsula, is believed to be the most widespread system of traditional conservation in the Middle East, and perhaps the entire earth. In these modern times, it’s easy to think of environmental protection as a new concept which has emerged in response to modern problems linked to […]
These soldiers escort conservationists protecting the lapwing bird in active Al Qaeda territory. The Middle East’s conservation warriors are diving to restore coral and boating to protect sharks in the Red Sea. But in the western Iraqi desert, where Al Qaeada operatives are active in a region called the “triangle of death”, Omar Fadhel and […]
Loving wild places gives us the impetus to protect them Before I started writing about green building and eco-tourism in Israel and the Middle East, I was a tour guide in North America. For three years I taught foreigners about camping, ecology, geography, and history in National Parks throughout the lower 48, Alaska, and Canada. […]
For This Year’s World Environment Day, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Asks the World’s Citizens to Mobilize for Climate Action. [image via flickr] In the first few months of each year, we report on several special days and hours: there’s World Water Day on March 22nd, Earth Hour on the last Saturday of March, […]
Netanyahu ‘wins’ a Black Globe Award as a statement that he should improve his environmental reform plan, and other organizations win positive Green Globes. Earth Hour wasn’t the only way that Israel celebrated Earth Day this past Thursday – it was also the day that Life and Environment warded its annual Green and Black Globe […]
In a step towards preserve the wealth of its national animal and plant populations, Qatar will be setting up a gene bank of local species. Dr. Sheikh Faleh bin Nasser Al Thani, the Director General for Research and Agricultural Development of Qatar’s Environmental Ministry, said that “Qatar has a precious legacy of flora and fauna […]
Coyote land or parking space for solar energy? Ask the coyotes first solar energy companies are finding out. Solar energy project promoters may not be paying attention to the ecological impacts of installing large solar panel installations in non-settled desert areas. This issue was brought up recently following the revealing of plans for companies like the […]