To preserve biodiversity in the country, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) represented by the Protection and Wildlife Department has implemented a number of projects to protect fauna and flora.
The Department also intensified inspection campaigns to curb the violations related to wildlife. “The department is currently implementing four projects; development of a biodiversity database, monitoring and protection of hawksbill turtles, rehabilitation and restoration of Qatari land and study of the impact of decision to ban camel grazing in pastures and productivity of camels,” said Director of the Protection and Wildlife Department, Talib Khalid Al Shahwani.
Al Shahwani was speaking at an event organised by MME’s environmental sector yesterday to demonstrate the achievements of Protection and Wildlife Department during a year from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
The event was attended by Head of the Wildlife Protection Section, Hadef Saif Al Mansoori; Head of the Natural Resources Section, Ghanem Abdul Rahman Al Ghanim; and Head of the Wildlife Section, Ali Saleh Al Marri.
“During the period of study, a total of 1,164 violations were recorded which include dumping waste at undesignated places, illegal hunting, cutting down trees, grazing camels, attracting birds with banned whistles, setting up camps without permission,” said Al Shahwani.
He said that the municipal inspectors made 943 field visits to monitor the utilisation of natural resources during past one year.
“To preserve the biodiversity, the Department released 9,614 baby turtles of hawksbill and planted 2,400 seedlings of wild trees.” He said that the Department has planned a number of new projects in future.
“The future projects include developing national plan for conservation of non-flying wild mammals in Qatar; an integrated system to control invasive myna birds in the country; issuance of a national list of fauna in Qatar,” said Al Shahwani.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sideline of the event, Al Shahwani said that the event has been organised to introduce Department of Protection and Wildlife and its services. “The department is comprised of three sections – protection of wildlife, biodiversity and natural resources.”
He said that the department prepared strategies and signed a number of international agreements to preserve the biodiversity in the country.
“The strategies and plans of the department cover the issues of curbing desertification and monitoring all natural resources.”
He said that with the increasing awareness among citizens and expatriates about the importance of biodiversity, the violations related to wildlife declined remarkably. “Now very few violations like cutting green trees are being recorded,” said Al Shahwani.