The locals are proud to pose with their dead sharks, rays, and barracudas. Many of them will even open the shark’s mouth for dramatic effect. “Picture, picture,” they said repeatedly as Jacques Van Wyk, a South African paramedic who works for a Dubai-based hotel group, led me through a pungent fish souq in Dubai in search of finned sharks. Along with a rusty spade and rebar, we found a few sharks carelessly strewn in the back of a transport truck.

One of them may be a juvenile whale shark – the gentle giants of the sea. But (I was privately relieved) we did not witness any finning today. That doesn’t mean it has stopped. Just a few days ago, Jacques witnessed 400 kilograms of fins being driven away.

Known at work as the “treehugger,” Jacques (left) first became aware of shark finning when a friend of his took him to a market four and a half years ago. They found a truck full of sharks, which they then followed back to the market where they were being sold. He has been coming to the markets regularly ever since.

If this sounds like a clandestine endeavor, that would be misleading. The salespeople fin sharks with as much indifference as nearby merchants sell their vegetables. They line the sharks up on a short wall at the far end of the market, slice off their fins, and pile them in a truck.

According to Van Wyk, most of the fish here come from Oman. “With so much phytoplankton, those waters are literally teeming with marine life.” But it is not legal to fin in Oman so they are brought to Dubai where they are processed and then shipped off.”

A curious fresh seafood salesman who spoke excellent English, Vijay confirmed that the cheaper fish comes from Oman, but the more expensive fish are caught on lines outside of Dubai.

He also explained that dried shark fins are too dry to eat, that they are only used for their taste.

Shark meat costs as little as $3 for two pounds, while a baby shark fetches approximately $40.

“Shark fin soup is on the menu of many high-profile functions,” Jacques said, “until that ends, the fishermen will continue to fish them.”

That hasn’t stopped Jacques from dreaming about how to make a difference.

In addition to potentially teaming up with Ernst Van Der Poll at Tawasul to screen the film Shark Water at the Jumeirah Beach Dive Center, he is working on plans to help his employer incorporate more environmental programs into their Corporate Social Responsibility portfolio.

Also, he and his girlfriend have plans to walk from Abu Dhabi to South Africa in the next couple of years in order to generate overall environmental awareness.

Having grown up in the bush in South Africa, Jacques is passionate about nature. “Sometimes I get down in the dumps,” he told me after we finally left the market to get fresh air and process what we had seen.

“But it’s good, because that is what gives me the motivation to go on.”

More on shark finning in the UAE:
Working with Fishermen to Tackle Shark Finning
Despite Ban, UAE Is A Market Hub for Shark Finning
UAE Divers Organization: Stop Buying Shark Fins and Shark Fin Soup

The post Reporter’s Notebook: Tasteless Dried Shark Fin For Sale appeared first on Green Prophet.

Sadly replacing the traditional Arab Souqs or markets that tourists flock to see, malls are becoming as much an urban Middle Eastern phenomenon as any American city. But if there must be malls, let them be more like the Meydan shopping complex in Istanbul designed by Foreign Office Architects. Urban centers generate significant heat – called the heat island effect – as well as greenhouse gases. And malls, which are usually large and well-lit, eat up a lot of energy. To mitigate these problems, passive design encourages plenty of natural lighting, and best of all, the first-of-its-kind green roof absorbs a lot of the excess heat while also creating a pleasant place for people to spend an afternoon.

The Meydan mall is hill-shaped and situated in the nucleus of a new and growing Instanbul suburb. Instead of relying on a power plant for its heating and cooling needs, those functions are provided via boreholes.

Public-lighting is generated from solar energy, but since many of the public spaces are outside (yes, on TOP of the mall), the need for most lighting only really occurs at night.

The parking lot is underground. In addition to keeping ground space open, this also helps to cut back on the heat island effect, since cars parked outside in the hundreds absorb a lot of heat. The ground floor shops are then concentrated to create a breezy open square.

Skylights flood the area with natural lighting and the building is naturally ventilated. Outside, the green roof, natural shading, and wind shelters all help to keep the area cool.

While it is a shame to lose the culture that makes the Middle East so unique, it is at least hopeful that developers in the region are paying attention to pressing environmental concerns and addressing them with clever design.

:: Inhabitat

More green architecture in the Middle East:
Qatar To Get A Desert-Loving Cactus Building
Ehrlich Architecture Trumps Hadid And Foster With UAE Parliament Win
SLIDESHOW: Entries For Qatar’s 2022 World Cup Stadiums

The post Istanbul Shoppers Rendevouz On Giant Green Roof appeared first on Green Prophet.

Not long ago I described my hometown in Virginia, where humble wooden houses were replaced with giant McMansions. In that same town, there was an old woman who sold ice-cream out of a tiny little house on the outskirts of Great Falls. Her name was Thelma. For a few months towards the end of my painful high-school days, Thelma and I smoked cigarettes and drank coffee all day, scooped her famous ice-cream into cones, and prepared dry ham and cheese sandwiches. These days I neither smoke nor eat ham, and Thelma died years ago, but that little shop – like Abu Dhabi’s souqs – was an institution.

Decline of “mom & pops”

However, business shrank as the area became increasingly popular among a wealthy elite. The surrounding shops became bigger and fancier and Thelma’s quaint but ramshackle place faded into oblivion. This trend circulated throughout the United States. “Mom & Pops” have since been replaced with franchises and Walmarts to such an extent that many American towns today are defined by a certain, brown, blue and white sameness. Now it appears that a similar trend is crawling through Abu Dhabi, as the emirate pursues its “Development and Beautification Plan?”

Relative beauty

The first sign that Abu Dhabi’s character would be forever altered came five years ago when the central market in the capital was replaced with a high-rise shopping center. With 500 boutique stores to choose from, the high-rise is expected to enter its officialdom at the end of this year or beginning of next, according to the Emirates 24/7 news.

Now markets that are at least thirty years old in Bateen and Mushrif are being beautified too.

The owners were informed in May of the plans and will be duly compensated for any loss incurred during the transition from old souq to modern market, according to 24/7.

“They will also be allowed to lease the new shops on a ‘basis of operation and transfer,'” the paper reported.

While often important to improve aging infrastructure for health and safety, one hopes that not all of Abu Dhabi’s character will morph from colorful musky spice into a glittering urban area that smacks more of Las Vegas than of the Middle East.

Elsewhere in the region, “heritage heroes” who recognize the importance of preserving our culture have saved antiquities from extinction. Will someone in Abu Dhabi do the same?

:: Emirates 24/7

More from the urban Middle East:

New Design Approved For Jerusalem’s Giant Glass Museum Of Tolerance

Tel-Aviv’s $60 Million Eco-Office Tower A Go

Artocos: Architectural “Musical” Activism in Dubai

image via jemasmith

The post Abu Dhabi Shifts Westward As “Beautification” Replaces Souqs appeared first on Green Prophet.