Rasha al Raisi - When anyone mentions the Environment Society of Oman (ESO), two images come to my mind: plastic bags and green turtles. But after meeting Yusra Jaffer, PR Manager of ESO, my imagination expanded further. Yusra spoke passionately about the many conservation projects that ESO had conducted in the past few years.
Turtles’ conversation has been one of the main focuses of ESO. The number of loggerhead turtles on the island of Masirah has now touched critically endangered levels. This is due to extensive coastal development and turtles getting caught in fishing nets. To overcome these problems, ESO conducts awareness campaigns among school students in Masirah Island by giving presentations on the threats they face. It also engages students and women associations in beach cleanups ahead of nesting season.
The humpback whale is another marine animal facing extinction, with less than 100 left in Oman. Around 30-40 per cent of humpback whales got entangled in fishing nets between 1990 and 2014. They are also driven away by the noise from construction and development projects. ESO has been conducting acoustic studies detecting and analysing whale songs. This helps in understanding the impact of noise levels on whales and their behaviour.
Masirah Island also hosts the second largest population of Egyptian vultures in the world. The birds could easily be spotted in at Al Amerat dumpsite in Muscat. Egyptian vultures feed on carcasses. In the 1990s there was a sharp decline in the number of vultures due to the contamination of those carcasses with diclofenac (a veterinary medicine that was later banned due to its effect on birds of prey). ESO’s efforts to conserve Egyptian vultures include satellite tagging, rubbish dump counts and monitoring dumpsites.
Another conservation project is that of frankincense trees. Their environmental roles include protection of soil erosion and providing good biomass. Frankincense is harvested by tapping the tree trunk and branches gently. With increasing numbers of expat farm hands, the number of frankincense trees degraded beyond repair due to harsh methods of tapping. ESO solved this problem by implementing an awareness programme that includes the whole community in Dhofar Governorate: from relevant stakeholders such as ministries and farmers to school- children and women’s associations. Workshops had been held to discuss sustainable harvesting of frankincense and there are future plans for a conference to put this near-threatened species in the international spotlight.
ESO has also been working closely with colleges and schools to raise awareness among the future generations. There have been college-level public speaking competitions on different environmental issues. Seven colleges in the Sultanate were also chosen to set the Eco Clubs. This helps in exchanging ideas and information on environmental issues and activities among students under the guidance of ESO. The society also conducts awareness programmes among school- children on topics like biodiversity and ecological footprint, planting around 200 native trees in schools, parks and social centres, and engaging children in eco summer camps.
To enlighten women about environmental issues, ESO has organised an essay competition in collaboration with women associations in different regions. The winners of this competition have the opportunity to meet with their local Majlis Ash’shura representatives to present their findings.
ESO’s efforts to save the environment are remarkable. We too could help out by doing little things that make a huge difference like recycling, throwing rubbish in the bins and saving energy and water. Let’s save mother earth for generations to come.
Rasha al Raisi is a certified skills trainer and the author of
The World According to Bahja. rashabooks@yahoo.com
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