Sports
Saudi climber asks women to challenge themselves
Saudi climber asks women to challenge themselves (AFP) / 28 May 2013 Adventurer Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi woman and youngest Arab to conquer Everest, urged women in the the Gulf to “challenge themselves” as she arrived back in the region. Her group of four, including a Qatari royal, a Palestinian and an Iranian, was greeted with cheers and garlands of flowers on arrival from Nepal at Sharjah International Airport on Sunday night. “It was unbelievable,” an emotional 25-year-old Moharrak, covered from head to toe in a black abaya, told AFP. “I’m the first but I really hope I’m not the last,” she said. “I hope it awakens the intention in (Saudi) women to challenge themselves more.” Moharrak reached the peak of Everest on May 19, in a first for Saudi Arabia. She left her home in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on April 3 after a year-and-a-half of rigorous training. By reaching the highest point in the world, she said she has now achieved her ambition of climbing nine mountains, including in Europe, Tanzania, the South Pole and Argentina. Speaking to AFP by telephone from Jeddah, her father Hassan said: “I’m very proud of her… It’s great what she managed to tell people here and everywhere.” Moharrak, who had worked hard to convince her family to allow her to scale the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain, is also the youngest Arab to reach the peak of Everest. Her parents had “faced disagreements from family members and people in Saudi Arabia in general,” she told AFP. “As a Saudi girl, it’s normal that I get negative feedback, but it was minimal and the good outweighed the bad,” she added. Awaiting her arrival at Sharjah airport was the Saudi embassy’s cultural attache in the UAE, Abdul Mohsen al-Harthi. “This is a message from a woman who wants to say ‘I have reserved a place for myself among you men’,” said al-Harthi. “The message is for men in Saudi saying that ‘I, a daughter of this country, have achieved top positions and am capable of doing whatever men can do’,” he said. “I did nothing against my culture and religion,” said Moharrak, a slim and tall brunette. “You don’t have to go against society to achieve amazing things.” Moharrak, like many other Saudi women, hopes that “we do drive one day,” but if this is difficult to bring about, “there are so many other more important things you can be great at.” Her Palestinian co-climber Raed Zidan said he had left behind a political message on Everest. “We spent a long time on the mountain… We met climbers from all over the world,” he told reporters. “I told them about the Palestinian cause, about our prisoners in the jails of the Israeli occupation.” Zidan is only the second Palestinian to summit Everest after Suzanne al-Houby completed the feat in 2011, becoming the first Arab woman to reach the top. With Moharrak and Zidan was Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani — a young member of Qatar’s ruling family and the emirate’s first to make the climb. Their Iranian companion, Masoud Mohammed, suffered from frostbite in his foot which will take months to heal. All four, graduates of the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, climbed Everest to raise funds to help educate Nepalese children. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah said they have succeeded in raising “one million dollars”. Continue reading
Rare Damani gazelle gives birth in Kalba
Rare Damani gazelle gives birth in Kalba (Wam) / 28 May 2013 One of the first group of endangered Damani gazelles released in the Al Hafiya natural reserve in Kalba by His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, in May 2012 gave birth recently. The gazelles’ release marked the inauguration of the first phase of the Kalba Eco-tourism Project undertaken by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) in collaboration with the Environment and Protected Areas Authority (EPAA) in Sharjah. The Kalba Eco-Tourism Project, the largest of its kind in the development in the region, is set up in Khor Kalba, 15km south of Fujairah city on the UAE-Oman borders and features natural reserves and diverse tourist and commercial facilities. Speaking on the occasion, EPAA Director-General Hana Saif Al Suwaidi stated: “The birth of the endangered Damani gazelles on April 4 and 7, followed by the birth of three more gazelles, which are known to be breeding in spring and autumn, bring the number of gazelles in the Al Hafiya protected area from 29 to 34.” Al Suwaidi noted that these births are clear evidence of the success of the project’s aims proving that the gazelles have adapted to their natural habitat and signal that the natural reserve provides the type of healthy conditions needed to preserve the species’ natural life cycle. Speaking about future plans to release more gazelles, Al Suwaidi said a specialised team from EPPA is currently tasked with monitoring the animals in accordance with a detailed plan to release and re-introduce more endangered wild animals in the protected areas in Sharjah. “We are working on the re-development of the natural reserves in Kalba (Al Hafiya and Al Qurm natural reserves in Khor Kalba), as part of the first phase of the Kalba-eco-tourism project, in order to preserve the rare biodiversity of the area and rehabilitate its fauna and flora in order to bring it back to what it was before. “These areas were once home to rare animal species that became damaged as a result of overfishing and human wrongdoing. Our plans are being implemented through a carefully studied plan to help curb the environmental degradation and rehabilitate a number of endangered animal and bird species,” she added. Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), commented: “The progress made in the rehabilitation of natural reserves within the Kalba eco-tourism project is an important step for the development of the project as a whole. Especially since the project’s main focus is on eco-tourism, making it dependent on the sustainable development of ecological life and conservation of animal and plant resources in the region.” Al Sarkal also lauded the role of the Environment and Protected Areas Authority in the development of this part of the project. Characterised by its small size, the endangered Damani gazelle is well adapted to the wild environment, feeding on herbs rich in dew to compensate for the scarcity of water, and travelling long distances in search of water. Once found, they drink enough in quantity. The Kalba eco-tourism project is one of the most important tourism projects in the UAE and the region and will offer visitors a unique experience in the form of an incomparable tourist destination featuring many attractions and diverse world-class facilities and amenities. Continue reading
Converting landfills into green zones
Converting landfills into green zones Staff Reporter (news@khaleejtimes.com) / 28 May 2013 Dubai Municipality’s Waste Management Department held an environmental campaign under the theme of ‘Plant for the Planet’. Spearheaded by hazardous waste treatment plant officials at their site in Jebel Ali, the objective is to convert a landfill into a green zone. Green Hope UAE, a youth environmental group, comprising students from various schools in the UAE are working with the municipality’s Waste Management Department on this initiative. Green Hope’s primary objective is to involve children and youth of the region in the drive towards sustainable development, and they have been recognised and felicitated by Dubai Municipality for being a part of their ‘Clean Up The World’ Campaign. Green Hope’s work in this regard is supported by Al Tamimi Engineering Services LLC, an electro-mechanical contracting company based in Dubai, which focuses greatly on Environmental Conservation activities. Continue reading
