The Kuwait Environment Protection Society organized a field visit for a delegation from the “Birdlife International” organization, consisting of Dr. Ibrahim Al-Khader, the organization’s director in the Middle East, and Dr. Imad Al-Atrash, the executive director of the Wildlife Society in the State of Palestine, who are being hosted by the Society, to the Jahra Nature Reserve.
Janan Behzad, Board Member and Director of Programs and Activities at the Association, noted that the “Bird Life” delegation visited the Jahra Nature Reserve, accompanied by the Head of the Bird Monitoring and Protection Team at the Association, Mohammed Shah, and Association Member Nawaf Al-Muwail. They were received by Hani Al-Tamimi, Head of the Nature Reserves Department at the Environment Public Authority, and they toured the reserve, visiting the main habitats, observatories, and learning about the types of birds present through the reserve center's exhibition panels.
Behzad explained that the head of the natural reserves department reviewed the importance of the Jahra Nature Reserve, as it contains a number of wild animals such as the red fox, the long-eared hedgehog, the jerboa, and some reptiles such as the spiny-tailed lizard, the chameleon, snakes, and various types of butterflies and dragonflies. He also explained to the attendees the dangers that the natural environment in the reserve is exposed to from daily pressures and risks throughout the year that threaten biodiversity.
She explained that “the important bird areas in the State of Kuwait are chosen according to internationally agreed standards, so that they must have real importance for the conservation of birds at the international level, and are chosen according to the abundance of species throughout the year or seasonally, in addition to the presence of species threatened with extinction at the global level, species with a very limited distribution in the world, and species confined to limited environments in the world.”.
For his part, Dr. Ibrahim Khader, Director of BirdLife Middle East, stated that “the BirdLife team visited the Jahra Nature Reserve as it is one of the important areas for birds in the State of Kuwait,” adding: “We were pleased to see the achievements made in this regard, including the cooperation efforts between the Society, the Bird Monitoring and Protection Team, and the Environment Public Authority,” pointing out “the importance of increasing the area to include the different habitats, which are important for biodiversity in general and for birds in particular, both resident and migratory.”.
