Janan Behzad, Director of Programs and Activities and Board Member of the Kuwait Environment Protection Society, confirmed that “in the first scientific steps to document biodiversity in the State of Kuwait, and in cooperation with the organization “Bird Life International” and the Wildlife Society in the State of Palestine, and in partnership with the parent organization in Belgium and the Netherlands, and after a visit by officials from the two organizations to Kuwait last March, the Kuwait Environment Protection Society was able to open a special page for the State of Kuwait to document biodiversity and wildlife “https://kuwait.observation.org/” with the aim of knowing the species that have been recorded previously and up to this moment.”.
Behzad pointed out that “the results of the page indicate that the first record of birds in the State of Kuwait was in 1954 by international bird experts and scientists until the ninth of March of last year, when bird specialist Imad Al-Atrash, Executive Director of Palestinian Wildlife and President of the BirdLife International Partners Network in the Middle East, arrived in Kuwait and documented more than 11 types of birds in the Jahra Reserve.”.
She noted that “the Environment Protection Society held a seminar that included more than eighty experts from Kuwait and Arab countries at the beginning of June, a special workshop on the concepts of environmental surveys of biodiversity and plant life and their relationship to international standards, in addition to learning about access and registration of an account on the electronic portal “observation.org” and analyzing the scientific material on biodiversity and plant life, as well as learning about the concepts of important bird areas according to the standards of BirdLife International and the World Union for the Protection of Birds,” adding, “The Programs and Activities Team, the Society’s experts and its partners intend to hold the second session for international experts to analyze the results of the electronic portal for biodiversity of the State of Kuwait “Observation.org” in July, to analyze and study the results of the first session and what resulted from collecting Kuwaiti data since 1954.”.
For his part, Imad Al-Atrash, President of the BirdLife International Partners Network in the Middle East and Executive Director of the Palestinian Wildlife Society, affirmed that “this global page, which has more than five million biodiversity researchers and experts worldwide and Arab, is free, and every biodiversity researcher can create an account for himself and register the type of living organism with pictures, sound, and information about its life. It is considered an important database for the researcher and the informed in the various fields of biodiversity, as it facilitates the search process by location or by type.”.
Emad Al-Atrash explained that “approximately 391 species of birds have been recorded since 1954, followed by the number of recorded butterflies, mammals, and plants. This reflects the interest of bird scientists and experts in biodiversity in Kuwait.” He added, “During the visit of international experts at the invitation of the Environment Society of Kuwait last March, documentation and recording took place in many areas, including Al-Zour Port, Al-Jahra, Doha, Al-Wafra, Green Island, and other areas of high importance to birds.”.
