A daily struggle to fetch water

A daily struggle to fetch water

Millions of Yemenis are struggling to receive water and there is no regular access to water in their homes; it’s a difficult task to get water from public faucets. And a political uprising made Yemen’s water issue drop to the bottom of the top priorities for the reconciliation government, aid workers and government employees. This issue is more dangerous than any political one. As the depletion of Sana’a’s basin approaches, the government has adopted a string of procedures as preparation to face this danger. So a report released by the Ministry of Water and Environment found that random digging is a major factor threatening underground water; the number of wells dug randomly in Sana'a governorate amounted to 13,256 compared with 9,200 wells in 1990. And some said the scarcity and shortage of water in Yemen refers to the inadequacy of rainfall. Among the procedures taken are stoppage of random digging and the use of irrigation technology, in addition to taking advantage of sanitation water and rainwater. A specialist in Sana'a with the Community Livelihood Project, a program to improve water access funded by the US aid agency US Aid, warned that as water supply diminishes, tensions will rise: "Water is and will be the reason for powerful conflicts in the future. " Lack of access to improved water supply has been responsible for the spread of water-borne diseases on a scale not witnessed in decades, according to Unicef's Madieh. Water and sanitation are chronic problems in Yemen, where, on average, each Yemeni has access to only 140 cubic meters of water per year for all uses – the Middle East average is about 1,000m³ a person annually. In recent years, the government had taken strides to improve water access in Yemen, but the political turbulence that arose from last year's uprising has pushed water down the new government's list of priorities, according to aid workers and a government employee.

Release target for Asian Houbara exceeded

Release target for Asian Houbara exceeded

For the first time this year at the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX), the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC) announced it has exceeded yearly expectations of Asian Houbara release into the wild. “This year has been remarkable to us in terms of success”. As we know some hunters are killing Houbara using shotguns, giving the bird a zero survival chance in that case, as opposed to the slight chance of escape the houbara gets when being hunted by a falcon. A reason for this is the difference in mentality that modern hunters have as opposed to their forefathers who grew up in harsh conditions and were accustomed to giving back to nature as much as they took from it. Another reason, the Director General revealed, is that many trap these birds and take them from their habitats in order to train their falcons how to hunt. Many falconers have drifted away from traditional methods of hunting, by over-trapping houbara birds, which are not the falcon’s natural prey in the first place.

They are trying to increase the numbers of houbara by using hatching machine and specialized centers with experienced people; that’s why the survey will indicate how many wild birds are trapped and which areas require the reintroduction program. They believe that some people are overhunting in some places, that some people are not using the traditional method of hunting and they are using shotguns. They need to develop a strategy of how to work for these people so it's very important to know what they have in mind. The survey will give clues to past houbara behavior. This will hopefully mean houbara will not be taken from the wild to train falcons. Well actually, the hunting exhibition is the best place to help us be in contact as much as we can with falconers, and this gives us a very good indication of the hunting pressure and the problems these birds are facing. So as we can see it is a big leap from the 2,726 chicks bred last year, thanks to the transfer of 5,000 houbara, including 3,000 breeding birds, from the IFHC center in Morocco. Some people said that the houbara are inspiring them in many ways.

How do Gulf corals beat the heat?

How do Gulf corals beat the heat?

Because of the global worming and the weather changing it will affect the corals in the entire world, but in the Gulf the corals managing to beat and resist by developing themselves. The algae photosynthesise, producing sugars that provide up to 90 per cent of the coral's energy, and in return, the coral provides shelter, nutrients mostly nitrogen and phosphorus and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Therefore at the University of Southampton, Jorg Wiedenmann subjects them to a range of temperatures to see how well they stand up. "Accurate predictions of the fate of coral reefs require a profound knowledge of the adaptation capacity of the main reef builders”. As we can see in the Gulf, the water was hotter than 36°C for more than a month. There was a huge mass mortality that year. Many reefs have still not recovered and 2010 was hot, too, with water temperatures in the Gulf exceeding 37°C. An extreme case of this bleaching was seen in 1998, when the El Niño weather phenomenon subjected 80 per cent of the world's coral reefs to extreme temperatures. To get some answers, Prof Burt has taken samples of hump coral (Porites lobata), a common reef-builder, from Abu Dhabi and sent them to a lab in Britain.

New Pearl Museum opens in RAK

New Pearl Museum opens in RAK

The precious pearl according to two local legends has two mothers One says she is Bint Al Matar daughter of the rain and Bint Al Qamar

Its impact on the local culture and economy, and where it stands today in the modern world, can be found inside the new RAK Pearls Museum.

RAK was the capital of pearl trading as evident from old documents by European travellers and sailors, when you enter the museum, you are surrounded by a distinct interior design of thousands of shimmering empty oyster shells along the walls,

So it made sense to open a museum here.

Regardless of the pearling industry's fate, the influence of the pearl lived on,

On the first floor is a historical journey, including a detailed showcase of tools and gear worn by pearl divers, such as Al Khabt, or leather finger gloves; Al Fatam, a tortoise-shell flexible nose clip; and a thick, white cotton diving suit against jellyfish.

Many divers suffered from great illness later on in their life. They wore no protection for their eyes and ears, and suffered later on from blindness and deafness. It was really hard work and many suffered and even died on the job. The 40-metre-boat, called a jalbout, includes everything a pearl diver needed; they had a designated singer, and Al Narjeelah, an early form of shisha, to keep themselves entertained.