The African Rift Valley/Red Sea flyway, on which the mountains of Lebanon lie as a ‘bottleneck’, is one of the most significant flyways for migratory soaring birds (MSBs) in the world. Over 1 million soaring birds, many...
The following article appeared in the newspaper Gulf News on September 16, 2011. While the wild bird trade is not specifically mentioned, officials in the Omani Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs are well aware of the...
BirdLife International and its Partners concluded a productive three day regional workshop which brought together representatives from governments and NGOs on mainstreaming the conservation of migratory soaring birds (MSBs) into the hunting sector along the Rift Valley...
Ibrahim Khader, Regional Director, BirdLife International, Middle East Division has informed OSME of new appointments in the Migratory Soaring Project. Two new members are joining the Regional Flyway Facility (RFF) team in the Amman office. Mr. Osama...
The Oman bird list now stands at 500 after the recent acceptance by the Oman Bird Records Committee of an adult female Brown Shrike at Ayn Hamran (Dhofar) as the 1st record for Oman. This was found...
While the Arabian Leopard Panthera pardus nimr is strictly speaking not within the remit of OSME, we feel that the conservation of its habitat in eastern Yemen also has a direct impact upon the avifauna of the...
In July 2011, BirdLife Cyprus launched the DVD documentary “Important areas for birds and other wildlife in Cyprus”. This presents unique images of Cyprus’s wildlife and natural landscapes. It covers the diversity of landscapes, rich wildlife and...
OSME members are presenting on two occasions at this year’s Birdfair. In addition to giving a plenary lecture during the recent British Birdfair at Rutland Water, OSME Vice-President Azzam Alwash was interviewed by Charlie Moores on the...
This spring Nature Iraq/ BirdLife International organized several conservation-related activities. From 24-29 April, 2011 Nature Iraq/ BirdLife International, with help from Richard Porter ( BirdLife advisor for the Middle East), ran their sixth annual training course which...
LAKE QARUN IBA THREATENED BY TOURIST DEVELOPMENT Cairo, May 11, 2011–The Amer Group, the Egyptian real estate developer responsible for Porto Marina and Porto Sokhna, massive tourism developments along Egypt’s North and Ain Sokhna coasts, plans to...
Initiated in 2004 the Takreem Arab Achievement Award honours the best and brightest of Arab achievements. Nature Iraq was the recipient this year for their achievement in Environmental Development and Sustainability. The Takreem Award seeks to identify...
There have been a number of recent reports of indiscriminate hunting of migrant birds passing through the Middle East, ranging from White Storks and White Pelicans to small warblers such as Blackcaps. Regrettably this happens both on...
The Socotra Buzzard Buteo socotraensis has just entered the Guinness Book of Records as the newest bird of prey in the world! After spending more than a century without a name, the Socotra Buzzard Buteo socotraensis was...
As part of the activities celebrating the 2010 Year of Biodiversity and the Arabic Environment Day, the Socotra Governance & Biodiversity Project organised a series of environmental activities on Socotra. These included a drawing competition for schools,...