An Arabian humpback whale: newly discovered and already imperiled? The Arabian and Persian Gulf waters off countries like Abu Dhabi, Iran, and Oman are home to a number of different types of marine animals. These include dolphins, at least 600 dugongs, several species of sharks, and sea turtles living in and around the Bu Tinah […]
ResponsibleTravel.com customers on holiday in Egypt. Feluccas and Pharoahs, a popular trip. British ethical tourism pioneers ResponsibleTravel.com has celebrated its tenth birthday by announcing its biggest ten sellers over the last decade – and Middle Eastern destinations top the list. Responsible Travel offers hundreds of holidays across the world and its birthday announcement also included […]
Istanbul – a major hub for train travel across the Middle East Survey results published this week reveal that the majority of international travelers would prefer to take trains instead of aeroplanes, if they had the opportunity. The poll of 300 consumers, conducted for train technology company Silverrail, showed that 79% would choose trains over […]
The Ahmad Family in Egypt shows us what they eat. As popular uprisings continue to spread in Middle East, rising food costs for stable crops like rice and wheat cannot be ignored as underlying factors in the political unrest. In a region where Islam and anti-Westernism are usually blamed for driving populist politics, the impact […]
How green is your fodder? Turns out, in the UAE, not so green. A new program aims to change that. In order to combat the dual challenge of desertification and regional water shortages, the United Arab Emirates are experimenting with myriad innovations. The latest encourages local farmers to switch to a different variety of fodder. […]
Until recently, much of the attention regarding amplified energy use has been directed towards China and India, but new data from GE indicates the Middle East is experiencing greater energy demands than any other nation. Why is this?
We’ve only got one life, and one planet. Time to get off your armchair folks and learn a little more about your planet. Green Prophet challenges you to think over a trip to the Middle East for your next eco-holiday. We’ve picked out 7 places worth seeing, and preserving. 1. The Dead Sea See from […]
In October 2010 Panasonic Marketing Middle East (PMM) announced the ‘Eco Ideas Declaration’ to become the number one green corporation in the Middle East and Africa region. With over a dozen eco lifestyle and business projects underway, Panasonic is well on its way.
Skyscrapers (even rotating!) and dreams of vertical farms, but not a greenhouse to be seen. The Gulf is growing more and more dependent on imported food. Many Gulf countries are investing heavily in foreign farmlands that are more fertile, chiefly in Africa, but also India and Pakistan, in a bid to secure a steady food […]
Legs? Who needs them when you can drive. Maybe this is why diabetes rates in the Gulf region are among the highest in the world. We already know about the terrible rates of road accidents in Saudi Arabia, the dangerous practice of car drifting, and the admiration for gold-plated cars. Now, a new study finds […]
Despite facing issues such as water scarcity and pollution at poisonous levels, the Middle East is still sending mixed message about climate change. Image of Mideast and earth Courtesy of NASA. There is a constant debate in green circles over whether the Middle East is really taking climate change seriously. Some days the Arab world […]
Can a city relying on oil revenue and desalination really be labeled “eco”? (Image by dislona via flickr) At first, we felt a surge of pride to learn that Muscat, Oman, is the only Middle Eastern city on Mercer’s top 50 eco-city ranking. It ranks 48, just behind Glasgow, but ahead of Frankfurt. We were […]
At stake for Oman is the extinction of traditional handicrafts in the face of cheaper, machine made imitations. Man making khanjars (traditional Omani daggers). [image via: v.williams46] Omani handicrafts – such as silver items, woven cloths, and pottery – may have been passed down from generation to generation and faced difficulties such as material shortages […]
The Sphinx and the Great Pyramids of Giza shut off their lights for one hour on Saturday evening in Egypt to mark Earth Hour, a global protest for climate change initiatives. The whole world sat in darkness for one hour as an attempt to bring awareness to the growing concerns facing the planet in terms […]
A water conference in Jordan was a call to arms in Arab world to fight water insecurity. Photo: Water tanks on the roofs of buildings in Madaba, Jordan. There are people in over 17 Arab countries living well below the water poverty line of 500 cubic metres annually, said Arab decision makers from around the […]
Could this “dry” setting be the entire Middle East one day if we don’t take environment issues seriously? Business concerns in the Middle East, especially real estate developers in countries like the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are not being concerned enough about the environment, according to a study just released by the UAE […]